Sustainable land management is crucial for mitigating land
degradation, restoring degraded areas, and ensuring the optimal use of land
resources for the benefit of both present and future generations. There is a
growing interest and recognition of the importance of local technical knowledge
in the planning, use, and sustainable management of land resources. This study
assessed indigenous knowledge of soil suitability and compared it with
technical soil evaluation approaches in four villages within the Ejisu–Juabeng
District of the Ashanti Region, Ghana. Two contrasting but complementary soil
mapping approaches were employed: a geopedologic approach following Zinck
(1988), representing expert-driven soil classification, and a farmer-based
approach that relied on local spatial knowledge, experience, and land-use
history. Farmers first developed soil maps based on their understanding of
landscape features and soil behaviour, and subsequently evaluated the
suitability of mapped soils for economically important tree crops—cocoa, oil
palm, and citrus. In parallel, expert-based soil suitability evaluation was
conducted using the Automated Land Evaluation System (ALES), which applies the
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) land evaluation framework by matching land
characteristics and qualities with specific crop requirements. The resulting
farmer-derived and expert-derived suitability maps were integrated and analysed
within a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) environment to assess spatial
correlation and agreement between the two knowledge systems. Farmers’
suitability assessments indicated that 81% of the study area was suitable for
cocoa, while citrus and oil palm accounted for 71% and 26%, respectively. In
contrast, expert-based evaluations classified 66% of the area as suitable for
cocoa, with citrus and oil palm suitability covering 41% and 39%, respectively.
Comparative map analysis revealed overall accuracies of 67% for cocoa, 43% for
citrus, and 14% for oil palm, reflecting varying degrees of concordance between
local and technical assessments. The spatial correlation analysis highlights
both convergences and divergences in soil classification between indigenous and
expert systems, with topsoil characteristics emerging as a critical factor
influencing farmer decision-making. The findings underscore the importance of
integrating local soil knowledge with scientific land evaluation tools to
enhance sustainable land management and informed agricultural planning in
smallholder farming systems.
Author(s) Details
Edward Calys-Tagoe
Department of Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition, CSIR - Soil Research
Institute, Ghana.
Adams Sadick
Department of Soil Analytical Services, CSIR - Soil Research Institute,
Ghana.
Prince Martin Gyekye
Department of Soil Genesis, Accra Centre, CSIR - Soil Research Institute,
Ghana.
Gideon Asamoah
Department of Microbiology, CSIR-Soil Research Institute, Ghana.
Ben Amoah
Department of Microbiology, CSIR-Soil Research Institute, Ghana.
Please see the book here :- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/asti/v7/6913
No comments:
Post a Comment