management strategies of land degredation

Question 2

afforestation

Answer 2

Planting new trees helps to bind the soil and hold it in place

Afforestation helps reduce wind erosion so less topsoil is blown away

Trees provides shade, windbreaks, nutrients and fuel for families.

Question 3

more efficient farming methods

Answer 3

Increased crop rotation by farmers helps soil to recover

By preserving the most fertile top-soil, stone lines have increased yields by 40% in some areas.

Question 4

irrigation schemes

Answer 4

Large and small scale irrigation schemes, for example in Sudan where water from the Blue Nile and White Nile irrigates 1 million hectares of land

Building more dams, eg in Kenya

Question 5

fuel efficient stoves

Answer 5

The development of stoves like the jiko which is cheap and uses approximately half the quantity of fuel wood required by an open fire, can play a part in reducing rural land degradation

If these stoves are used, the demand for fuel wood is reduced and trees will be retained for longer

Question 6

reduced herd sizes

Answer 6

Reducing the herd size and focusing on the quality rather than quantity of the herds, decreases grazing pressure on the land

It also reduces the impact of soil compaction which causes increased overland flow and reduced infiltration

Question 7

education

Answer 7

Teaching farmers about the causes and consequences of degradation can help change attitudes

An example of this is the importance of the appropriate irrigation techniques which avoid the salinization of the soil, for example drip irrigation

Also teaching farmers that they should rotate the crops that they grow so that the same nutrients are not constantly being depleted from the soil