Soil salinity is a major issue causing land degradation in coastal areas. In this study, we assessed the land use and soil salinity changes in Djilor district (Senegal) using remote sensing and field data. We performed land use land cover changes for the years 1984, 1994, 2007, and 2017. Electrical conductivity was measured from 300 soil samples collected at the study area; this, together with elevation, distance to river, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Salinity Index (SI), and Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), was used to build the salinity model using a multiple regression analysis. Supervised classification and intensity analysis were applied to determine the annual change area and the variation of gains and losses. The results showed that croplands recorded the highest gain (17%) throughout the period 1984–2017, while forest recorded 3%. The fastest annual area of change occurred during the period 1984–1994. The salinity model showed a high potential for mapping saline areas (R² = 0.73 and RMSE = 0.68). Regarding salinity change, the slightly saline areas (2 < EC < 4 dS/m) increased by 42% whereas highly saline (EC > 8 dS/m) and moderately saline (4 < EC < 8 dS/m) areas decreased by 23% and 26%, respectively, in 2017. Additionally, the increasing salt content is less dominant in vegetated areas compared with non-vegetated areas. Nonetheless, the highly concentrated salty areas can be restored using salt-resistant plants (e.g., Eucalyptus sp., Tamarix sp.). This study gives more insights on land use planning and salinity management for improving farmers’ resilience in coastal regions.

This study investigates proximate drivers of cropland and forest degradation in the Kloto district (Togo, West Africa) as a way of exploring integrated sustainable landscape approaches with respect to socioeconomic and environmental needs and requirements. Net change analysis of major cash and food crops based on Landsat data from three time steps (1985–2002, 2002–2017, and 1985–2017) and quantitative analysis from participatory survey data with farmers and landowners are used. The study underlines poor agricultural systems and cassava farming as major factors contributing to the alarming forest losses between 1985 and 2017. A significant net loss in forest cover of 23.6% and areas under maize and cocoa agroforestry farming of 12.99% and 10.1% between 1985 and 2017, respectively, was noted. These significant losses are due to intensive cassava cropping (38.78%) and settlement expansion (7.87%). Meanwhile, the loss of forest cover between 2002 and 2017 was marginal (8.36%) compared to the period 1985–2002, which had a considerable loss of 15.24%. Based on participatory surveys, the majority of agricultural lands are threatened by erosion or physical deterioration (67.5%), land degradation or salt deposits and loss of micro/macro fauna and flora (56.7%), declines in soil fertility (32.5%) and soil water holding capacity (11.7%), and changes in soil texture (3.3%). Most farmers adhere to the proposed climate smart practices, with an emphasis on cost-effective drip irrigation systems (45.83%), soil mulching (35%), and the adoption of drought-resilient varieties (29.17%) to anticipate adverse spells. We conclude that low adoption of improved soil conservation, integrated water management, and harvesting systems and the use of less productive and adaptive cultivars entail extreme degradation of cropland and a decline in crop productivity. Consequently, farmers are forced to clear more forest in search of stable and healthy soil to meet their food demands and improve their livelihood. Capacity building on integrated pathways of soil and land management practices is therefore needed to ensure sustainable and viable socio-ecological systems at a local scale.

One of the main constraints of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa is the steady decline in the level of soil fertility resulting in a continuous decline in crop yields. This study assessed the impact of grass mulch on: the productivity, the income, the soil carbon, and the phytodiversity within three pineapple-based systems of the ecovillage of Donomade in Togo. They are: a model farm with mulch, adopters’ farms, and non-adopters. Production-related data (e.g., number of plants, the number of productive individuals, the mass of products harvested) was obtained by a sampling an area of 100 m². These measurements were coupled with a semi-structured individual’s interviews of producers on the history of the plots and production costs in order to assess their profitability. The fruit production was three times higher within the adopters’ plots (21240 ± 11890 kg/ha) than the non-adopters (7840 ± 7890 kg/ha) and the two thirds of the model farm (33838 ± 9460 kg/ha). Consequently, the net income was 8 to 11 times higher than the conventional pineapple cropping system. According to the cropping systems, the total soil carbon was higher within mulching plots including the model farm and the adopters’ plots and lower within the non-adopters’ plots.