Consuming the Savings: Water Conservation in a Vegetation Barrier System at the Central Plateau in Burkina Faso Promotor: Prof
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Consuming the Savings: Water conservation in a vegetation barrier system at the Central Plateau in Burkina Faso Promotor: Prof. dr.ir. L. Stroosnijder Hoogleraar in de erosie en bodem- en waterconservering Samenstelling promotiecommissie: Prof. dr. ir. J. Bouma (Wageningen Universiteit) Prof. dr. ir. D. Gabriels (Universiteit van Gent) Prof. dr. ir. P.A. Troch (Wageningen Universiteit) Dr. ir. M.A. Slingerland (Wageningen Universiteit) ii Consuming the Savings: Water conservation in a vegetation barrier system at the Central Plateau in Burkina Faso Wim Spaan Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor op gezag van de rector magnificus van Wageningen Universiteit, Prof. dr. ir. L. Speelman in het openbaar te verdedigen op woensdag 25 juni 2003 des namiddags te 16.00 uur in de Aula iii Wim Spaan (2003) Consuming the Savings: Water conservation in a vegetation barrier system at the Central Plateau in Burkina Faso. PhD Thesis, Wageningen University and Research Centre ISBN 90-5808-864-2 Copyright © 2003 Wim Spaan Cover Photo: Research area Gampela, Burkina Faso iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements vii 1 Introduction 3 1.1 Degradation 3 1.2 Regeneration 4 1.3 Soil and water conservation interventions 6 1.4 Research questions and objectives 7 1.5 Outline of the thesis 7 1.6 References 8 2 Soil and water conservation technology (Theory) 11 2.1 Introduction 13 2.2 Choice of technology and implementation in five soil and water conservation projects in the Sahel 14 2.3 Evaluation of the effectiveness of soil and water conservation measures in a closed silvo-pastoral area in Burkina Faso 35 2.4 The costs of soil and water conservation measures in the Sahel 42 3 The vegetation barrier system (Theory and Materials & Methods) 53 3.1 Introduction 55 3.2 Land management on the Central Plateau in Burkina Faso 55 3.3 Hedgerows on the Central Plateau 56 3.4 The Gampela experiment 59 3.5 Measurements and data collection 64 3.6 References 68 4 The Savings (Effects) 71 4.1 Introduction 73 4.2 Effect of scale and vegetation on runoff in Burkina Faso, West Africa 74 4.3 Effect of vegetation barriers on runoff in an alley crop system in Burkina Faso, West Africa 82 4.4 Sediment dynamics in an alley crop system in Burkina Faso, West Africa 99 5 Consuming the savings (Use) 111 5.1 Introduction 113 5.2 Crop yields 114 5.3 Water availability and water use 124 5.4 Competition in an alley crop system. 139 5.5 References 151 v 6 Planning of alley-barrier systems (Design) 153 6.1 Introduction 155 6.2 Rainfall runoff relations for vegetation barriers in the Sahel 156 6.3 The influence of rain intensity and crop stages on runoff production 161 6.4 Estimation of water use by vegetation barriers based on climatological factors and soil moisture levels 166 6.5 Implementation of contour vegetation barriers under farmer conditions in Burkina Faso and Mali 172 6.6 Incentives for soil and water conservation in semi arid zones: A case study from Burkina Faso 184 7 The potential of vegetation barriers on soil and water conservation at the Central Plateau of Burkina Faso 191 7.1 Conclusions 193 7.2 Recommendations Summary 201 Samenvatting 204 Curriculum Vitae 209 vi Acknowledgements Around 1993 I was asked by Leo Stroosnijder to join the Sahel Research Group. Wim van Driel, who up to that moment had been responsible for the research into soil and water conservation interventions in that team was appointed as director of the Antenne Sahelienne. It did not take me long to decide. New challenges were there: new research and new areas to explore. In the first year of my commitment I looked around in the area and discussed with several researchers. It appeared that a lot of soil and water conservation research already had been done and/or was in motion. The orientating research of “Choice of technology and implementation in five soil and water conservation projects in the Sahel” originated from that period. Aad Kessler did a very good job, visiting the project areas, discussing the SWC items with the responsible project managers and writing a provisional report. Thank you very much Aad for your important contribution. Unfortunately Aad left a few months after the fieldwork was finished. It was quite a struggle to finish the TRMP no 8 report in which this research was described. By finishing the TRMP no. 8 report and discussing SWC interventions with people involved, it became clear that the effectiveness of vegetation strips in soil and water conservation had been scarcely investigated. In dialogue with Leo Stroosnijder it was decided to set up a field experiment to test the effectiveness of vegetation barriers. In 1996 Leo Stroosnijder gave me the suggestion to write a PhD thesis about this subject. This occurred during the turbulent times when Wageningen University threatened to dismiss universitaire docenten without a PhD. In my innocence I admitted, I did not know the long road to follow. Leo I thank you very much for the confidence you put in me, the encouragement and the support you have given me during the research and the writing up. I owe many thanks to all the people of the “Antenne Sahelienne”. They took care of the progress of the research when I had to be in the Netherlands for my other duties. During my stays in Burkina Faso I had a lot of interesting discussions with the colleagues of the Antenne about the setup of the experiment and development of the research. They took care of the logistics and the management of the research site. Thank you Wim van Driel, Maja Slingerland, Joop Begemann, Jan Willem Nibbering, Teunis van Rheenen, Paul Kiepe, Roger Kaboré, Abdoulaye Mando, Fidèle Hien I owe a lot to the farmers around the research station. In 1994 they helped me to establish the field experiment within three weeks. I thank Damien Nana and Mathieu Nikièma for the organization of the work and the safeguarding of the research site Gampela. Their skills, determination and loyalty impressed me. Thanks for all your efforts. I thank the University of Ouagadougou for giving me the opportunity to do my research on the university experimental farm. They gave 3 ha to my disposal and allowed me to access to their climate and soil data. A number of MSc students supported the research with their thesis work. Thank you Arnold Sikking, Erik Boerrigter, Robert van der Steeg, Petra Nooyens, Laurens Nijzink, Hilde Ludwig, Matthijs Bouwknegt, Anne-Jan Brouwer en Oemar Idoe. In the turbulent years of reorganization of the Wageningen University when most of the attention was focussed on the survival of groups and persons in the organization, Arnold Sikking and Helena Posthumus played an important part in taking care of the progress of the research. This progress was even more stimulated by the support of Jacquelijn Ringersma and Emiel van Loon. Jacquelijn brought a lot of experience on a number of aspects of the water balance into the research team. Emiel gave important input during the time the data had to be analyzed. I thank all of you very much for your dedication and enthusiasm. The co-operation with Jacquelijn, Helena, Emiel and Arnold resulted in a number of joint publications forming part of this thesis. Thank you for this fruitful work. vii In the final stage of thesis writing I needed critical readers. In that respect I owe a lot of thanks to Huiberdien Sweeris, Helena Posthumus, Jacquelijn Ringersma and Jayne Rattray. Ladies many thanks for your suggested improvements in text and layout. In that final stage a number of publications had to be finalized. Particularly Willem Hoogmoed, Jan de Graaff en Ferko Bodnar have introduced their specific knowledge in the research and made it possible to finish the work in time. Gentlemen I thank you very much for your support. The Erosion and Soil and Water Conservation Group was very important for me during my research. They gave me the possibility to divert myself during the breaks. Thank you Dirk Meindertsma, Fred de Klerk, Trudy Freriks, Jacquelijn Ringersma, Jan de Graaff, Geert Sterk, Piet Peters, Michel Riksen, Luuk Fleskens, Jolanda Hendriks and other members of the group. Thanks also to Leo Eppink. After his retirement he took care of the soil technology lectures a few times. By doing so, he gave me time to spend on the thesis work and above that he and his wife Ton took care of my relaxation and my excitement to play the famous card game “Dobbelkoppen” with my wife and myself in the weekends. My greatest thanks go to my wife and children. They had to live with a busy man and father who “jailed” himself every evening in his study to keep the research going on. Sometimes I was a little bit antisocial, but fortunately we enjoyed the weekends, which were always without thesis work. Thank you Wil, Marieke, Anneloes, Michiel and Hikmet you gave me relief. The booklet is ready now. Let us all take profit from it, which means: “Consuming the Savings” and investing in future activities. Wim Renkum, 30 April 2003 viii Chapter 1 Introduction 2 Introduction The dynamics of soil resources embrace the outcome of two antagonistic processes: degradation and regeneration. The net result of these interactions is important for human existence, since natural resources can only be safely exploited in the long run if regeneration counter-balances degradation. Human interventions have a distinct influence on degradation as well as regeneration processes, but even without the presence of Man, natural degradation and regeneration processes occur although the speed and extent of these processes differ.