Shelterbelts and farmers needs

As a response to desertification and long periods of drought in Northern Nigeria in the 1970s, the Kano State Forestry Department designed a programme of land rehabilitation using shelterbelts. It soon became clear, however, that the shelterbelts had design errors and had many disadvantages. Farmers had not been consulted when they had been established and this added to their sense of dissatisfaction with the measures implemented. In this article the authors use the Nigerian experience to stress the importance of actively involving farmers as well as researchers and policy makers in soil management and rehabilitation programmes.