Conservation agronomy in man-made lake shore lands

The construction of multi-purpose dams has created lakes in Africa submerging vast tracts of both cultivated and waste lands. This has stimulated interest in the agricultural utilization of such lands that emerge out periodically. Although there are a number of research projects being undertaken in various parts of Africa, very little is yet known. The present paper brings out this problem of lake shore conservation and utilization in its proper perspective and gives an account of the studies undertaken at the Kainji Lake Research Project on Lake shore development. In a multipurpose lake, a part of the lake capacity is reserved for flood control and this constitutes a sizeable portion of the total area. The flood storage area together with a portion of live storage capacity can be brought under conservation fanning. This type of farming is known as Lake-shore Faming or Draw Down Agriculture. Due to special favorable conditions created in the lakeshore region, erosion of soil develops very fast; the rate of erosion in this region being many times greater than the average erosion taking place in the catchment area.