Land degradation and spatial vulnerabilities: a study of inter-village differences in Chambal Valley, India (original) (raw)
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Controlling gully erosion: an analysis of land reclamation processes in Chambal Valley, India
Programmes for environmental protection and land reclamation have been deeply embedded in local political and social contexts. This article focuses on the effectiveness of such measures to control ravine erosion in the lower Chambal Valley, one of the most degraded regions in India. The study used field observation to see whether the measures had any impact on further gully and ravine formation. The findings suggest that agricultural practices, including those often based on the short-term economic needs of households, lead to inefficient land-use practices, particularly in land-levelled and reclaimed areas.
Asian journal of soil science and plant nutrition, 2024
Gully erosion is a form of severe land degradation, which is more pronounced in semi-arid and arid environments due to their vulnerable ecosystems. Establishing the causes and effects of gully erosion is therefore fundamental in policy formulation and resource allocation for up-scaling context-specific gully mitigation and rehabilitation measures. Thus, this study aimed at assessing the causes and effects of gully erosion in semi-arid region, in the NorthWest part of Kenya. A cross-sectional survey, field measurements, laboratory analysis, focus group discussions and key informants' interviews were used to collect data on drivers and effects of gully erosion. Descriptive statistics and content analysis were used to analyze the data. From the findings, 60 % of the respondents reported deforestation as the main driver of gully erosion. Further, 37 and 34 % of the respondents reported surface runoff and steep slopes, respectively, as major drivers of gully erosion. Soils in the region had a high dispersion ratio, with values of between 0.3 and 0.9, making them highly erodible. About 66 and 55 % of the respondents reported that the major effects of gully erosion were reduction in arable land size and death of livestock due to fatal falls, respectively. Approximately 14 ha of arable land and 1,483,600 Mg of sediment have been lost to gully erosion at the rate of about 2,410 Mg ha-1 over a period of 45 years. The average growth rate and density of gullies in the study site stood at 154 Mg ha-1 yr-1 and 0.7 km km-2 , respectively. Four people and about 100 cattle had died due to fatal falls into the deep gullies. Thus, there is an urgent need to rehabilitate existing gullies while mitigating occurrence of new gullies in the study area. This would convert existing badlands into hotspots of biodiversity.
Land Degradation and Socio-Economic Development
Advances in Asian human-environmental research, 2020
Aims and Scope The series aims at fostering the discussion on the complex relationships between physical landscapes, natural resources, and their modification by human land use in various environments of Asia. It is widely acknowledged that human-environment interactions become increasingly important in area studies and development research, taking into account regional differences as well as bio-physical, socioeconomic and cultural particularities. The book series seeks to explore theoretic and conceptual reflection on dynamic human-environment systems applying advanced methodology and innovative research perspectives. The main themes of the series cover urban and rural landscapes in Asia. Examples include topics such as land and forest degradation, glaciers in Asia, mountain environments, dams in Asia, medical geography, vulnerability and mitigation strategies, natural hazards and risk management concepts, environmental change, impacts studies and consequences for local communities. The relevant themes of the series are mainly focused on geographical research perspectives of area studies, however there is scope for interdisciplinary contributions.
Determination of the Socio-Economic Impact of Gully Erosion in Kurmin-Gwari Settlement
2021
Sustainable development is the positive socio-economic change that does not undermine the ecological and social systems upon which communities and social systems are dependent. Land provides services to humans and other life forms as well as providing raw materials in production process. Land provides waste assimilation services as well as other ecosystem functions. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of gully erosion on the residents of Kurmin Gwari settlement, Kaduna State, Nigeria. The study intends to identify the percentage of the residents according to localities that have suffered socially and economically from gully incidents. It also intends to determine the relationship between adverse social and economic effects suffered by the affected people in the various localities of the study area. The Primary sources of data are direct observation from fieldwork and the use of questionnaire, while the secondary sources are topographic map and library materials. Descriptiv...
on Land Degradation in Developing Countries
2016
This paper critically reviews the three main approaches to land degradation and conservation-the classic, populist and neo-liberal. The implications of these paradigm shifts are examined in terms of research needs. Next, the paper discusses the role of science and technology, and the origins and substance of differences in the perception, evaluation and diagnosis of degradation. Focus is then shifted to analyzing how farmers and pastoralists make decisions about resource use and management, and a research approach is suggested for analyzing decision-making. Two case studies illustrate the approach. ix 4 Chapter I-Changing Paradigms in Land Degradation Research identification of the problem as serious, indicating that soil conservation and land reclamation are urgently needed; technical measures requiring the cooperation of the community are recommended; and plans are implemented through a combination of encouragement, persuasion, and subtle threats sometimes backed by more coercive powers. Key points are the lack of any account of the position of the participants (the natural resource users themselves), and the reliance on experts. The typical response to failures with this approach has been to find "escape hatches" (Clay and Schaffer 1984), blaming unfavorable weather, lack of cooperation by different government departments, lack of political will, or lazy and uncooperative farmers. However, the view from another paradigm instead sees classic soil conservation intervention failure in terms of five major problems:
Land Use and Land Cover Change and Its Implications on Gully Erosion
2017
This study investigated land use and land cover change for the last 26 years in Suswa Catchment, Narok County using satellite imageries. Changes in land use and land cover (built up areas, agricultural land, grassland, bareland and shrubland) for 1985-2000, 2000-2011 and 1985-2011 were determined using Chisquare test. Results showed no significant changes in built up areas, agricultural land, bareland, grassland and shrubland during the period. Overall change of built up area, shrubland, bareland, agriculture increased in 26 years, while grassland decreased. Grasslands were therefore converted to build up areas, shrubland, bareland and agricultural areas during this period. An increase in built up area, bareland and agricultural land and a decrease in grassland are therefore drivers of gully erosion. A decrease in grassland results in an increase in soil erosion. Projections (2020) indicate a significant increase in built up area, agricultural land and bareland and a decrease of gra...
GEOGRAPHY, ENVIRONMENT, SUSTAINABILITY
Land degradation is human-induced and natural process that adversely affects the land, to function effectively within a complex ecosystem. In recent years, the Kallar watershed has encountered various kinds of multifarious problems on both land and water in the urban and its environs. The upper part of the study area is facing water scarcity problems in the past few years, but which included no such rare occurrences in the past. The mid-portion in the vicinity of foothills are highly affected by soil erosion, whereas the lower portion of the area has faced problems like land degradation, such as an unusual increase of wastelands and conversion of good agriculture lands into construction plots. Apart from these, the study area is frequently affected by nature induced disasters like a landslide, forest fire, flooding, and drought. In this complex situation, the qualitative assessment of human-induced land degradation and its impact is essential. For this, Geospatialbased Multi-Criteri...
Rethinking Research on Land Degradation in Developing Countries
World Bank Discussion Papers, 1995
This paper critically reviews the three main approaches to land degradation and conservation-the classic, populist and neo-liberal. The implications of these paradigm shifts are examined in terms of research needs. Next, the paper discusses the role of science and technology, and the origins and substance of differences in the perception, evaluation and diagnosis of degradation. Focus is then shifted to analyzing how farmers and pastoralists make decisions about resource use and management, and a research approach is suggested for analyzing decision-making. Two case studies illustrate the approach. ix 4 Chapter I-Changing Paradigms in Land Degradation Research identification of the problem as serious, indicating that soil conservation and land reclamation are urgently needed; technical measures requiring the cooperation of the community are recommended; and plans are implemented through a combination of encouragement, persuasion, and subtle threats sometimes backed by more coercive powers. Key points are the lack of any account of the position of the participants (the natural resource users themselves), and the reliance on experts. The typical response to failures with this approach has been to find "escape hatches" (Clay and Schaffer 1984), blaming unfavorable weather, lack of cooperation by different government departments, lack of political will, or lazy and uncooperative farmers. However, the view from another paradigm instead sees classic soil conservation intervention failure in terms of five major problems:
Journal of Ecology and Natural Resources, 2018
Abstract Global climate variability has triggered increased rainfall patterns that have escalated flooding and land degradation problems in developed and developing countries. Land degradation problems like gully erosion happen to be a big threat to agricultural development and rural livelihood in developing countries. Gully erosion affects lands, soils, and vegetation, water and landscape resources in areas where it is prevalent. This study therefore, investigated changing climates and the effects of gully erosion on Akpo community farmers in Anambra State, Nigeria. The field survey and Remote Sensing and GIS techniques were employed in this study. The survey approach involved questionnaire distribution, observation, interviews and photography. 95 questionnaires were randomly sampled to Akpo farmers. Remote Sensing/ GIS techniques were used for detecting and mapping gully erosion prone areas. The gully characterization was carried out using Digital Elevation Model (DEM) as a prerequisite for assessing the relationship between field topography and gully occurrence. The geometry of the eroded channels especially their width (W) and depth (D) was characterized through its cross section width and maximum depth.The hypotheses were was tested using chi-square (x2).The results showed that a large proportion of (94%) farmers were below tertiary education and the land could be their only means of livelihood. Also, majority of the farmers (63.2%) agreed that rainfall is responsible for the large expanse of affected lands by gully erosion in the area while 40% indicated that gully erosion has affected their crop production. Findings from the study also indicated that gully erosion in Akpo community is dendritic and has a network of branches. Gully erosion characterization indicated a V- shape representing that the surface soils are more erodible than the subsurface soils due to surface run-off producing concentrated overland flows that cut channels. Further, the cross section width gully length is 563m, the maximum elevation is 226m, and elevation gain is 0.9m and maximum slope was 2.2% which happens to be responsible for the large distribution of the gullies on the spots along farmlands aiding the generation of sufficient volume of run-off. Farmers revealed that gully erosion has the most significant effect on farmlands, poor growth/harvest of crops (especially economic trees like Avocado, Pear, Kola nut, Breadfruit and Berry), development of a bad land, shortage of land for other uses, loss of biodiversity and reduction of farmers’ income. Adaptive measures like afforestation and agroforestry systems, developing flood channels for storm water, creation of farmers group to enable tackle the erosion problems and policy enforcement on human actions that trigger climate change is thereby recommended. Keywords: Changing climate, rainfall pattern, gully erosion, livelihood, run-off and farmers
Assessing the geoindicators of land degradation in the Kashmir Himalayan region, India
Natural Hazards
The geoindicators of land degradation such as erosion, vegetation change and wetland loss were identified in the Kashmir Himalayan region using a geospatial model. Geomatics techniques were used to generate information on landuse/landcover, NDVI, slope and the lithological formations that form inputs to map the erosion risk. The results of erosion analysis revealed that 48.27 % of the area is under very high erosion risk. The Middle Himalayan watersheds were found to be under high erosion risk compared to the Greater Himalayan watersheds. Pohru and Doodhganga watersheds of the Middle Himalayas were found to be under very high erosion risk. These two watersheds were studied in detail from 1992 to 2001 for vegetation change and wetland loss. In Pohru watershed, significant change was found in the dense forest with 10 % decrease. Wular lake, an important wetland in the Pohru watershed, has shrunk by 2.7 km 2 during the last decade. The vegetation change analysis of the Doodhganga watershed revealed that there has been 9.13 % decrease in the forest, 7 % increase in built up and the largest wetland in the Doodhganga, Hokarsar, has reduced by 1.98 km 2 from 1992 to 2001. Field studies showed that anthropogenic activities and chemically deficit soil (Karewa) along Pir Panjal ranges are the main factors responsible for high land degradation in the area. The assessment of these geoindicators provided valuable information for identifying causes and consequences of the land degradation and thus outlining potential hazard areas and designing remedial measures.