Write a geographical account of bush fallowing in West Africa under the following heading: (a) Land preparation (b) Crops (c) Advantages (d) Disadvantages

Answer Details

Bush fallowing in West Africa

(a) Land preparation

A piece of forest or bush land is selected and cleared of trees and undergrowth using cutlass and axe. The felled vegetation is left to dry and then burnt, and the ash spreads over the soil to add nutrients (a form of slash-and-burn). The land is then cleared of stumps and the soil is loosened with simple hand tools (hoe and cutlass) before planting. After a few years of cropping the land is left to rest (fallow) and a new plot is prepared, while natural vegetation regrows on the old plot to restore its fertility.

(b) Crops

Mixed food crops are grown together, such as yam, cassava, maize, cocoyam, plantain, beans, melon and vegetables (mixed cropping). These are mainly subsistence food crops for the family.

(c) Advantages

• The fallow period allows the soil to recover its fertility naturally.
• It is cheap, needing only simple tools and little capital.
• Burning the bush destroys pests, weeds and diseases and adds ash nutrients.
• Mixed cropping gives a variety of foods and reduces the risk of total crop failure and soil erosion.

(d) Disadvantages

• It requires large areas of land and cannot support a dense population.
• It gives low yields and is only for subsistence, not large-scale production.
• Repeated burning destroys soil organisms and humus and can cause erosion.
• Shorter fallow periods under population pressure lead to declining soil fertility.