The State of Soil Degradation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Baselines, Trajectories, and Solutions
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Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, MD 20742, USA
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Agriculture and Food Security Center, Earth Institute at Columbia University, Palisades, NY 10964, USA
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Department of Environmental Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, MD 20742, USA
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Marc A. Rosen
Sustainability 2015, 7(6), 6523-6552; https://doi.org/10.3390/su7066523
Received: 4 February 2015
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Revised: 2 May 2015
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Accepted: 5 May 2015
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Published: 26 May 2015
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Enhancing Soil Health to Mitigate Soil Degradation)
The primary cause of soil degradation in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is expansion and intensification of agriculture in efforts to feed its growing population. Effective solutions will support resilient systems, and must cut across agricultural, environmental, and socioeconomic objectives. While many studies compare and contrast the effects of different management practices on soil properties, soil degradation can only be evaluated within a specific temporal and spatial context using multiple indicators. The extent and rate of soil degradation in SSA is still under debate as there are no reliable data, just gross estimates. Nevertheless, certain soils are losing their ability to provide food and essential ecosystem services, and we know that soil fertility depletion is the primary cause. We synthesize data from studies that examined degradation in SSA at broad spatial and temporal scales and quantified multiple soil degradation indicators, and we found clear indications of degradation across multiple indicators. However, different indicators have different trajectories—pH and cation exchange capacity tend to decline linearly, and soil organic carbon and yields non-linearly. Future research should focus on how soil degradation in SSA leads to changes in ecosystem services, and how to manage these soils now and in the future.
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Keywords:
soil degradation; sub-Saharan Africa; baselines; indicators; sustainability; resilience
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MDPI and ACS Style
Tully, K.; Sullivan, C.; Weil, R.; Sanchez, P. The State of Soil Degradation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Baselines, Trajectories, and Solutions. Sustainability 2015, 7, 6523-6552. https://doi.org/10.3390/su7066523
AMA Style
Tully K, Sullivan C, Weil R, Sanchez P. The State of Soil Degradation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Baselines, Trajectories, and Solutions. Sustainability. 2015; 7(6):6523-6552. https://doi.org/10.3390/su7066523
Chicago/Turabian StyleTully, Katherine, Clare Sullivan, Ray Weil, and Pedro Sanchez. 2015. "The State of Soil Degradation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Baselines, Trajectories, and Solutions" Sustainability 7, no. 6: 6523-6552. https://doi.org/10.3390/su7066523
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