Southern and Eastern Africa
Joining Hands to Halt Soil Erosion
The village of Chefe Donsa is located in a picturesque but rugged Ethiopian Highland wheat growing area. Given the high water-holding capacity of the predominant Vertisol black clay soils, even a modest 900 mm average annual rainfall is sufficient to make this a potentially very productive environment.
But appearances of lush bounty are deceiving. When wet, these soils become so heavy and sticky that animals and people cannot effectively walk through or plow them, so farmers traditionally delay planting until the second half of August. By that time more than half of the amount of seasonal rain has soaked the bare plowed fields, resulting in severe erosion and deep gullies that destroy the productivity of the land forever.
In March 1999 about a hundred farmers of the
Chefe Donsa village met with ICRISAT and Ministry of Agriculture ‘Joint Vertisol
Project’ staff, together with the District Team Leader for Development and local
development
agents to seek solutions. Farmers expressed their thoughts, and
decided to create farmer research groups to address issues including soil and water
conservation and agro-forestry, weed management problems, fertilizer use, and the use of
the broad bed maker (a special tillage tool) to improve field drainage, as well as the
need for improved varieties.
ICRISAT scientist Michael Klaij and partners from the Ministry of Agriculture worked with the development agents and farmers to help them map about 30 ha of their watershed. The farmers’ central concern was to increase productivity of their fields to provide food and income for their family. However, they were also very worried about poor drainage and erosion, especially about the gullies creeping into their fields. Following discussions, they agreed to work together to improve the major communal drains, so that the runoff water could be directed away from everybody’s fields.
In May 1999, farmers worked jointly to improve the waterway. Two small stone drop structures were essential to stabilize two ominous gully heads. They also brought the heavy stones needed for the construction of the drop structures.
Their labor was put immediately to the test. The 1999 rains came hard and fast, exceeding a level expected only once every 20 years. It included a single-day rainfall daily event of 70 mm, expected only once every 30 years.
Fortunately, the drop structures withstood the pressure well. Farmers were gratified as just a few hundred meters downstream beyond where they had worked, the heavy rainfall caused a two-meter deep, three-meter wide gully to advance by about 12 m, which amounts to over 70 t of soil lost.
Seeing is believing. The handiwork of the farmers of Chefe Donsa has convinced them to continue to work together to preserve their rich yet fragile land heritage – the key to sustainable prosperity for themselves and for their descendants.
