Restoring and maintaining the productivity of West African soils : key to sustainable development

As a result, yields of food crops and forages have slumped to low levels, and nations that could feed their people 30 years ago now depend on food aid. This study reviews the scientific literature concerning West African soils and suggests options for reversing this alarming situation. In Chapter 2, the predominant farming systems and their characteristics are described, followed by an overview of nutrient stocks and nutrient flows in West African soils (Chapter 3). Chapter 4 deals with the macro-economic environment and available policy instruments at the international, regional, and national levels, while Chapter 5 describes institutions and support services to restore soil fertility. Chapter 6 presents the "state-of-the-art" of available technologies to address the soil fertility situation in West Africa. In Chapter 7, the available technical, policy, and economic tools are integrated into a set of recommended interventions to turn the tide and to develop a viable and sustainable agricultural sector in West Africa. The introduction notes that information on the region is rather unevenly distributed. There is little information available on The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Guinea, Liberia, and Chad, but relatively speaking, a plenitude on Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and Mali. Also, studies provide no clues as to whether results can be extrapolated to other parts of the region that have similar environments; this is especially true of farming systems research. References are included with each chapter.