01867naa a2200205 a 450000100080000000500110000800800410001910000140006024501040007426000090017830000140018752012560020165000100145765000180146765000110148565000150149665300120151165300100152377301280153313278992002-11-22       1988    bl uuuu     u00u1 u    #d1 aROOSE, E.  aSoil and water conservation lessons from steep-slope farming in French-speaking countries of Africa  c1988  ap.129-139  aFor historical reasons (colonization, large plantation companies, etc) and recent demographic pressure, deforestation and cropping in some developing countries in Africa have been extended to slopes of 40 to 80 percent. High rates of soil erosion on steep slopes without permanent cover illustrate how serious the degradation of soil fertility and water efficiency is in these countries. Because there is no place for them to move, the nativeborn people are condemned to subsist on the hills, with a very low standart of living. Under these conditions, a soil and water conservation strategy based on the universal soil loss equation and the restauration des terrains en montagne (RTM = soil restoration in mountainous areas) is no longer applicable because it requiresthat those steep slopes be kept under perennial vegetative cover (grass or oven forest). "Top-down" engineering approaches, based on mechanical protection (strutures) more than on population needs, have led to many failures in soil conservation programs throughout Africa. What can be proposed to improvede the situation? One possibility is a rural development approach aimed at increasing production and responding to people's needs. This approach is based on there main points:...  aÁgua  aConservação  aManejo  aProdução  aCultivo  aSolos  tIn: MOLDENHAUER, W.C.; HUDSON, N.W. Conservation farming on steep lands. Ankeny: Soil and Water Conservation Society, 1988.