Activities
Multidisciplinary study on environment conservation and local culture in a region suffering from soil erosion in Western Kenya
Prof. Shuichi Asanuma (Division of Network Development)
Soil erosion has been a serious environmental threat to the survival of the people of Western Kenya. Land degradation is generally known to occur as the result of various human activities as well as fragile soil and climatic conditions. In our research project, we intend to clarify the impacts of human activities on soil erosion, particularly gully erosion, by comparing climatic, geographical, geological, physical, and human factors between two sites (one with and one without soil erosion). In addition, a warning system for gully and conservation agriculture techniques will be developed. In order to achieve these objectives, we have formed a new research team, composed of professionals from interdisciplinary fields of study including soil science, plant nutrition, crop science, agricultural economics, geology, and cultural anthropology. Those professionals are faculty members of either Nagoya University or Maseno University of Kenya. The team conducts field and/or household surveys together.
 Farmers' houses and farm fields nearby deep gullies |