PREFACE

Soil conservation, of course, occupies an important place, often the most important, in special public works programmes in developing countries. Such programmes aim to increase employment and raise the income of the poorest, essentially through the creation of an infrastructure in rural areas that will improve agricultural and forestry production, develop communications and generally improve the quality of life. In view of their employment objectives, the programmes use the available workforce to the maximum, putting the accent on labour-intensive techniques. Such an approach is particularly well suited to soil conservation work from, for example, the construction of anti-erosion terraces or banks, to re-aforestation, itself related to the establishment of nurseries. It has been observed that the labour component in such projects is, on average, 70% of the total cost.

Community participation is another important aspect that is shared by soil conservation activities and special public works programmes. Soil conservation is not only limited to isolated, individual interventions; to be effective, it must be undertaken at a community level, developed on the largest scale possible and, consequently, involve all the people concerned. Participation, which assumes grass-roots agreement, is one of the fundamentals of special public works programmes, along with the crucial role played by local Administration representatives and the technical services, in mobilising the workforce.

Finally, the place set aside for soil conservation in the special programmes follows from the fact that the latter deal, by definition, with disadvantaged groups. The zones covered by the programmes tend to be the poorest in natural resources, where the soils are progressively degraded as a result of deforestation and erosion. In this context, special programmes can be seen as contributing, not only to reconstituting and preserving small-scale farmers’ capital, that is the land, but also to the protection of the environment.

The present document, prepared by two experienced consultants, Mssrs Leblond and Guerin, is part of a series of technical documents published by the International Labour Office within the framework of the UNDP/ILO interregional project for the planning, organisation and execution of special public works programmes.

Soil conservation is a very wide and complex subject which has been fully explored from all points of view. The authors have, therefore, limited themselves to a reminder of the basic thinking concerning soil erosion and an analysis of the labour-intensive techniques employed in the battle against erosion. Justifiably, then, a large part of the study is devoted to the presentation of a methodology for establishing a soil conservation project model that meets the criteria of special public works programmes. Finally, the authors precisely and succinctly set out the rational organisation and successive stages of a labour-intensive operation.

This manual, with its emphasis on a practical approach to the subject, has been written mainly for the national planners, senior engineers and technicians who must establish and execute the programmes in developing countries. Interest in the social and economic aspects of the programme is becoming more intense daily, and the international community contributes active support in the fields of financial and technical assistance.

Long-term in nature but urgent, soil conservation reflects the wish of the poorest communities to preserve and improve their land heritage, so that their own and future generations’ basic needs can be assured. That, at least, is the desire expressed here and that should be rewarded by wide distribution of this remarkable work. The authors have drawn on their practical experience and pay all due attention to the socio-economic conditions of the populations concerned, and to the provision of appropriate techniques and instruments.

Maurice Idoux
Senior adviser
Division for global and
interregional Projects
United Nations
Development Programme
(UNDP)