Soil Erosion in Northern Nigeria: Potential Impact and Possible Solution: A Review

Abstract

Aim: This research aims to discuss the environmental soil erosion problem in northern Nigeria: their potential impact and possible solution for sustainable agriculture and livelihood management Methods: This research was carried out by reviewing the literature. The data were derived from; books, journals, internet and conference reports, and Google Scholar, and some university library catalog was used to search the literature. The search terms used are soil erosion, climate change, land degradation, Sahel, drylands, soil conservation, agroforestry, and sustainable land management. Results: This paper reviewed environmental problems such as soil erosion which are generally considered as the most serious consequences and their impact will remain the main issues for the 21st century. Soil loss will however be prevented or decreased by appropriate crop management such as cover cropping, multiple cropping, and high-density planting. Cover crops have certainly influenced the properties of physical soil which include infiltration rate, moisture content, bulk density, increase organic matter content, the levels of Nitrogen (N) by use of Nitrate (N2) fixing legumes, exchange of cation capacity and crop yields. Conclusion: The use of cover crops, multiple cropping, agroforestry, and conservation tillage are provided as some of the effective means of controlling soil erosion in the northern part of Nigeria. Therefore, the recommendation here is that the government extension services should incorporate farmers in the affected areas.