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A National Review of Land Degradation in South Africa: The Influence of Biophysical and Socio-economic Factors

Studies of land degradation in South Africa have seldom addressed the issue for the whole country. As part of the first step in developing a National Action Programme to combat desertification, a national review of the soil and veld degradation problem was conducted in 1997 and 1998. The results are based on the perceptions of agricultural extension workers and resource conservation technicians from the Department of Agriculture. They indicate that it is primarily in the communal areas along the eastern and northern escarpment and in some commercial districts along the Orange River that problems of soil degradation are greatest. Veld degradation is also higher in communal areas than commercial areas, although many commercial areas are susceptible to bush encroachment and alien plant invasions. A separate multiple regression analysis indicates that both biophysical and socio-economic factors are associated with high levels of soil and veld degradation. Magisterial districts which are most degraded are characterised by steep slopes and high mean annual temperatures, and a rural population in which many people are dependent on only a few wage earners. Although the interaction is poorly understood it appears that when there are high levels of poverty in susceptible environments, land degradation is greatest.