Site Specific Soil Conservation Strategies Around Mt. Elgon National Park, Eastern Uganda

This study investigates the site specific soil conservation strategies adopted by farmers to control land degradation around Mt. Elgon National Park, Uganda. Primary data were obtained through household survey conducted in Mutushet and Kortek parishes, Kapchorwa district between June to December, 2003. The differences between adopters and non-adopters of soil conservation practices in terms of contact with extension workers, tribe, size of productive family labour, membership to farmer organization, education level and participation in communal soil management activities and frequency of natural hazards on private agricultural lands were examined. Farmers have increasingly adopted different structural measures like terraced farming, construction of waterways, check dams, retention walls and gull control. Similarly, they have also adopted different biological measures including alley cropping, bamboo plantation in gullies, mulching and applied organic and inorganic fertilizers to control soil degradation. However, farmers have not been able to control soil degradation to a great extent due to relatively weak technological backup by concerned agencies. It was concluded that severity of soil degradation is higher in the parishes with traditional farming methods because farmers are not provided with the necessary technical advisory services.