Farmers’ Perception and Response to Soil Erosion While Abiotic Factors Are the Driving Forces in Sudanian Zone of Benin

Abstract

Abstract: Sudanian drier zone is characterized by a natural phenomenon of soil collapse called "Donga". The main objective of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of the Donga process as perceived by the bordering population of the W National Park of Benin. Local people that belong to the main ethnic group were interviewed in surrounding villages in order to assess how far they pointed out causes and factors determining soil erosion and land degradation in the W National Park and in land use areas, using structured and semi-structured interviews. The results showed that the main causes of erosion and soil degradation according to the local population are deforestation (75% of respondents) and the farmers’ settlement on farms (88.9% of respondents). The main factors they noticed were slope, run-off and gap in land cover and inadequate land use practices for agriculture. The perception of different ethnic group of erosion and soil degradation causes was in general the same. Concerning the erosion and soil degradation factors, we observed a wellstructured perception according to the ethnic groups. Old Hausa and Adult Fulani often cited the soil type as the factors that determine soil degradation whereas Young Gourmantché and young Hausa pointed out the runoff and the slope. The main adaptation strategies developed by locals were orthogonal cultivation (73.5 %) crop rotation (62.5 %) and bottom slope cultivation (50.7 %).