Uncovering Root Causes of Soil Erosion in the Philippines

This article explores the complex factors that contribute to soil erosion in the Philippines. The author argues that empirical evidence, scientific explanations, and conservation recommendations are not adequate enough to address the soil erosion issue in this country. Her framework uses both quantitative and qualitative analyses to explore which one might better our understanding of the causes behind this phenomenon. The author discovered that most farmers were implementing conservation agriculture practices but were not satisfied with them and they were not reducing erosion due to the steepness of the land. Overall, the farmers said the causes of soil erosion were lack of access to flat, quality land, limited education and skills, and poverty. The author concluded that stakeholders' perceptions of agricultural issues need to be considered in order to address these issues. Soil erosion and land degradation are complex problems and a wider variety of approaches need to be employed in order to understand their causes and their solutions.