Inland Valleys in West Africa: an Agro-Ecological Characterization of Rice-Growing Environments
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Inland Valleys in West Africa: An Agro-Ecological Characterization of Rice-Growing Environments Inland Valleys in West Africa: An Agro-Ecological Characterization of Rice-Growing Environments P.N. Windmeijer W. Andriesse (Editors) Publication 52 International Institute for Land Reclamation and Improvement, P.O. Box 45,6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands, 1993 0International Institute for Land Reclamation and Improvement/ILRI Wageningen, The Netherlands. This book or any part thereof may not reproduced in any form without the written permission of ILRI ISBN 90 70754 320 Printed in The Netherlands Introduction In 1981, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture/IITA at Ibadan, Nigeria, submitted a proposal for the Wetland Utilization Research Project/WURP to The Netherlands’ Directorate General for International Cooperation/DGZS, with a request for technical and financial assistance. The main objective of the Project was to develop the inland valley bottoms, which occur, characteristically and abundantly, in the West African landscape, for wetland rice cultivation. The first phase of this Project consisted of an inventory of existing information in order to identify the extent and categories ofwetlands, including the valley bottoms, in West Africa and to assess their capabilities and constraints for rice-based smallholder farming systems. The collection and synthesis of the available information started in August 1982 in The Netherlands as a joint undertaking by the International Institute for Land Reclamation and Improvement/ILRI, the then Netherlands Soil Survey Institute/STI- BOKA*, and the Royal Tropical InstitutelKZT. ILRI had the overall responsibility of coordination (J. de Wolf). Contributions were made by P. Hekstra (Team Leader) on the climatological and hydrological aspects, by W. Andriesse on geology, geomor- phology, and soils, by C.A. de Vries and G. Bus on the agro-socio-economic aspects, and by W. Linklaen Arriëns on water-borne diseases. The results of this inventory, covering the (humid) Equatorial Forest Zone and the (sub-humid) Guinea Savanna Zone of West Africa, and including all coastal countries from Guinea Bissau through Cameroon, came out in April 1983 as the WURP Report, which comprised four vol- umes, including one volume with five maps (Hekstra et al. 1983). This Report, howev- er, has never been published officially and remained in a grey literature circuit, avail- able only with difficulty to researchers outside The Netherlands. In view of the great interest shown in the Report tymany organizations and institu- tions, the continuing high topicality of increasing rice production in West Africa in the actual programs of national and international agricultural research institutes in the region, and the availability of new information, ILRI decided, in cooperation with the Winand Staring Centre/WSC, to officially publish, in its Publication series, an updated edition of the WURP Report. At the same time, in order to widen the geo- graphic scope of the study, it was decided to include in its coverage the (semi-arid) Sudan Savanna Zone, north of the original inventory area. The result of this update, as edited by P.N. Windmeijer and W. Andriesse, both of the Winand Staring Centre, is presented here. The information about the ecology of West Africa was compiled by Ms. L. Jansen (WSC). Drafts of (part of) the text were critically read by R. Oosterbaan (ILRI), E.M.A. Smaling (WSC), and O. Gordon (Land and Water Development Division, Sierra Leone). Special words of thanks go to the International Soil Reference and Information Centre/ISRIC, Wageningen, for the use of the library and cartographic collection. * In 1990,The Netherlands Soil Survey Institute merged with the Institute for Land and Water Management Research, the Department of the Environment of the Institute for Pesticide Research, and the Department of Landscape Planning of the Research Institute for Forestry and Landscape Planning, to form the new Winand Staring Centre for Integrated Land, Soil, and Water Research. V Contents Introduction V 1 Background, Area, and Subject of This Study 11 2 The Physical Environment of West Africa 15 2.1 Climate 15 2. I. 1 General 15' 2.1.2 The Air Masses 15 2.1.3 The Climatic Parameters 17 2.1.4 Climate Variability 24 2. I .5 Climatic Regimes 27 2.1.6 Agro-Ecological Zones 28 2.2 Geology and Lithology 30 2.2.1 General 30 2.2.2 The Main Geological Units 30 2.3 Geomorphology 33 2.3.1 General 33 2.3.2 The Landscape of West Africa 33 2.3.3 The Land Regions 36 2.3.4 Morphology of the Inland Valleys and Their Distribution 37 2.4 Hydrology 44 2.4.1 General 44 ' 2.4.2 Catchment Areas 45 2.4.3 Natural Drainage Systems 46 2.4.4 Flooding Regimes of Valleys 47 2.4.5 Physio-Hydrography of Inland Valleys 47 2.4.6 Water Balances of Inland Valleys 51 2.4.7 Factors Affecting the Water Balances of Inland Valleys 52 2.5 The Soils 55 2.5.1 Soil Formation 55 2.5.2 Distribution, Properties, and Classification of the Soils 55 2.5.3 Soil-Fertility Data and Nutrient-Balance Studies 59 2.5.4 Detailed Descriptions of Some Toposequences 59 3 Ecology 69 3.1 Principal Ecological Systems 69 3.1.1 Main Characteristics of the Forest Ecology 69 3.1.2 Main Characteristics of the Savanna Ecology 70 3.1.3 Ecological Differences between Uplands and Bottomlands of Inland Valleys 72 3.2 Vegetation 73 3.2.1 General 73 VI1 3.2.2 The Vegetation of the Equatorial Forest Zone 73 3.2.3 The Vegetation of the Guinea Savanna Zone 76 3.2.4 The Vegetation of the Sudan Savanna Zone 77 3.3 Uses and Interventions in the Ecological Systems 78 3.3.1 General 78 3.3.2 Uses and Interventions in the Ecology of the Equatorial Forest Zone 78 3.3.3 Uses and Interventions in the Ecology of the Savanna Zones 79 4 Water-Borne Diseases 83 4.1 Distribution and Transmission Mechanisms of Water-Borne Diseases 83 4.2 The Main Water-Borne Diseases 87 4.2'. 1 Malaria 87 4.2.2 Schistosomiasis (Bilharzia) 87 4.2.3 Trypanosomiasis (Sleeping Sickness) 88 4.2.4 Onchocerciasis (River Blindness) 89 4.2.5 Dracontiasis (Guinea Worm) 90 5 Farming Systems and Rice-Cropping Systems in West Africa 91 5.1 General 91 5.2 Farming Systems 91 5.2.1 Shifting Cultivation 92 5.2.2 Fallow Systems 93 5.2.3 (Semi-)Permanent Farming Systems 95 5.3 Rice-Cropping Systems 96 5.3.1 Upland (Pluvial) Rice-Cropping Systems 98 5.3.2 Hydromorphic (Phreatic) and Wetland (Fluxial) Rice-Cropping Systems 1O0 6 Socio-Economic Aspects 103 6.1 Demography 103 6.1.1 Population 103 6.1.2 Migration 105 6.2 The Role of Rice in the Food Supply 107 6.2.1 Total Agricultural Crop Production 107 6.2.2 Production of, and Trends in, Staple Food Crops 108 6.2.3 Trends in Rice Production, Imports, and Consumption 108 6.3 Rice Marketing and Price Policies 115 6.4 Economic Returns of Rice-Cropping Systems 117 7 Inland Valley Suitability for Rice Production . 121 7.1 General 121 7.2 Main Constraints to Rice Cultivation 122 7.2.1 Soil Constraints 122 7.2.2 Hydrological Constraints 123 7.2.3 Engineering Constraints 124 7.3 Suitability Classification of Inland Valleys for Rice Cultivation 125 VIIT 7.4 Fertilizer and Water Management 127 7.4.1 Fertilizer Management 127 7.4.2 Water Management 129 7.5 Rice-Growing Environments 133 8 Summary and Main Topics for Further Research 137 ~ 8.1 Summary I37 8.2 Research Programs and Strategies 140 8.3 Recommendations for Further Research 143 I I References 147 i References not cited in text I57 I Annex 1 Rainfall Regimes and Lengths of Humid Periods in West Africa ' Annex 2 Agro-Ecological Zones, Lengths of Growing Periods, l and Annual Precipitation in West Africa Annex 3 Land Regions in West Africa Annex 4 Descriptive Legend of the Land Regions in West Africa ~ IX 1 Background, Area, and Subject of This Study Over the last decades, the total agricultural production in West Africa has increased quite reasonably. In a large number of West African countries, however, a rapid growth in population, the prevalence of traditional farming systems, and increasing urban migration have caused per capita agricultural production to increase only slightly, or even to decrease. Domestic production that lags far behind the demand for a number of food crops has resulted in a strong increase in imports of these staples. These general statements about the agricultural problems in West Africa are particu- larly valid for the production, consumption, and import of rice. Even though total rice production in West Africa has increased by about 75% over the last fifteen years, rice imports have increased a multiple thereof. In an attempt to improve agricultural production in Africa, the Food and Agricul- ture Organization of the United Nations has identified four main problems that have to be addressed if programs for agricultural development are to be successful (FAO 1986): - In West Africa, there is limited scope for the expansion of rain-fed cultivation. There are only limited reserves of good arable land relative to population growth. Large areas are only marginally suitable or are too dry for rain-fed agricultural production. If grazing and forest land requirements are taken into account, the situation is even more critical; - Rural labour shortages are a significant constraint. These shortages are the result of the prevalence of traditional cropping systems employing manual labour only, low labour productivity, low rural incomes with subsequent rural-urban migration, low status of agricultural labour and, finally, women, who are responsible for many farming activities like weeding and harvesting, are spending more and more time on non-farming activities like collecting water and fuel; - Although, in many places in West Africa, enough water is present to irrigate large areas, large-scale irrigation projects are not the solution for increased food produc- tion.