Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Early Online
    • Archive
    • Subject Collections
  • Info For
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
    • Subscribers
    • Advertisers
  • About
    • About JSWC
    • Editorial Board
    • Permissions
    • Alerts
    • RSS Feeds
    • Contact Us

User menu

  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Early Online
    • Archive
    • Subject Collections
  • Info For
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
    • Subscribers
    • Advertisers
  • About
    • About JSWC
    • Editorial Board
    • Permissions
    • Alerts
    • RSS Feeds
    • Contact Us
  • Follow SWCS on Twitter
  • Visit SWCS on Facebook
OtherFeatures

Soil degradation and the future of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa

Rattan Lal
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation November 1988, 43 (6) 444-451;
Rattan Lal
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • References
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Excerpt

SINCE 1970, food production in Africa has increased only half as much as the continent's population growth rate (9). Per capita food production in some countries declined from 350 pounds (160 kg) in 1970 to 220 pounds (100 kg) in 1984 (63). As a result of this imbalance between agricultural production and population, the mean growth rate of per capita food production in sub-Saharan Africa was 1.0 and 1.2 percent for the decades ending in 1970 and 1980, respectively, and a minus 2.0 percent for the 5-year period ending in 1985 (40). By the year 2000, scientists project that sub-Saharan Africa will face a deficit of 22 million tons (20 million metric tons) of basic food staples. If the trend in food production were to continue at the rate reported for 1966-1977, the net deficit in food staples by the year 2000 would be 40 million tons (36 million metric tons)—seven times the 1977 food gap in the region (48).

For the first time since World War 11, a whole region has suffered retrogression of its per capita food production over a single generation (68). During the same period …

Footnotes

  • Rattan Lal, an associate professor in the Department of Agronomy, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210-1086, was a soil physicist with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria, from 1970 to 1987.

  • Copyright 1988 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.

Log in using your username and password

Forgot your user name or password?

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Journal of Soil and Water Conservation: 43 (6)
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
Vol. 43, Issue 6
November/December 1988
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
  • Front Matter (PDF)
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Journal of Soil and Water Conservation.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Soil degradation and the future of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
1 + 1 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.
Citation Tools
Soil degradation and the future of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa
Rattan Lal
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation Nov 1988, 43 (6) 444-451;

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Request Permissions
Share
Soil degradation and the future of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa
Rattan Lal
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation Nov 1988, 43 (6) 444-451;
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Youth water education: Programs and potential in the American Midwest
  • Working toward sustainable agricultural intensification in the Red River Delta of Vietnam
  • Stimulating soil health within Nebraska's Natural Resources Districts
Show more Features

Similar Articles

Content

  • Current Issue
  • Early Online
  • Archive
  • Subject Collections

Info For

  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • Subscribers
  • Advertisers

Customer Service

  • Subscriptions
  • Permissions and Reprints
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy

SWCS

  • Membership
  • Publications
  • Meetings and Events
  • Conservation Career Center

© 2022 Soil and Water Conservation Society