Land degradation is the principal
environmental factor behind declining per
capita food production in sub-Saharan
Africa. Causes include nutrient mining, soil
erosion, poor land management and lack of
resources. Rising population pressure often
obliges farmers to utilize vulnerable,
sloping land, thereby aggravating erosion
and degradation (Fig. 1).
A major concern of
many stakeholders
in highland areas,
besides maintain-ing the fertility of
lands that are still
productive, is how
to rehabilitate
degraded arable
lands that are on
the verge of going
out of production.
The Tropical Soils
Biology & Fertility
Institute of CIAT
(TSBF) and the
African Highlands Initiative (AHI), work-ing together with the Ethiopian Agricultural
Research Organization (EARO) in an action
research approach with farmer research
groups, has shown that the following
methods are effective in implementing
integrated soil fertility management in the
Areka area of southern Ethiopia.