Preventing Soil Erosion

15 min

Let's begin

On the last Saturday of the month it is umuganda. Mutesi's whole village climbs the hillside with hoes. They dig steps into the slope and plant grass along the edges. "Why are we making stairs in the hill?" Mutesi asks. "To keep our soil at home," says the village leader.

Ways to prevent soil erosion

The secret is to cover the soil, slow the water down, and hold the soil with roots.

Terraces: flat steps dug into a hillside. Each step catches the rainwater, so it soaks in instead of rushing downhill with the soil. Rwanda has built terraces on thousands of hills.
Contour farming: dig and plant in rows that run across the slope, not up and down. Each row acts like a small wall that stops the water.
Planting trees (afforestation) and growing trees among crops (agroforestry). Roots hold the soil and leaves break the fall of raindrops.
Grass strips and hedges planted along the edges of terraces and across slopes.
Cover crops such as beans or sweet potatoes, which spread over the ground like a blanket.
Mulching: covering bare soil with dry grass or banana leaves.
No overgrazing: keep only as many animals as the land can feed, or keep cows in a shed and bring them grass (zero grazing).
No bush burning.
Ditches and water tanks: dig ditches to lead water safely away, and collect rainwater from roofs in tanks.
Filling small gullies with stones and branches, and planting grass in them, before they grow.
Windbreaks: rows of trees that slow the wind and stop it blowing soil away.

Tip

Cover it, slow it, hold it

Cover the soil (mulch, crops), slow the water (terraces, contours), and hold the soil (roots of trees and grass).

✦

Try it yourself

Try each one first, then tap Show answer to check.

1

How do terraces stop soil erosion?

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Answer: The flat steps catch the rainwater so it soaks in slowly instead of rushing downhill and carrying the soil away.

2

Gatete's father digs his rows up and down the hill. What should he do instead, and why?

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Answer: Dig across the slope (contour farming), so each row stops the water instead of making a channel for it.

3

How do trees protect the soil?

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Answer: Their roots hold the soil together, and their leaves break the fall of raindrops.

4

Name two things your school could do to protect its soil.

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Answer: For example: plant trees and grass on bare ground, mulch the school garden, dig ditches to lead water away, and fill small gullies.

Quick check

Match each way of saving soil to what it is.

Tap one on the left, then its partner on the right.

What you learned today

To prevent erosion: cover the soil, slow the water, and hold the soil with roots.
Terraces, contour farming, trees, grass strips, cover crops and mulch all protect soil.
Stop overgrazing and bush burning; lead water away with ditches and fill gullies early.

Sources and credits

Soil erosion, by Simple English Wikipedia contributors, Simple English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0, adapted by Ganzaa.
Terrace farming, by Simple English Wikipedia contributors, Simple English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0, adapted by Ganzaa.
Terraces in Rwanda (photo), by DUSABEMUNGU Ange de la Victoire, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, used unchanged.
Women and men in northern Rwanda work on a public works site, building terraces to prevent soil erosion (photo), by DFID - UK Department for International Development, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0, used unchanged.

The exercises (Try it yourself and the practice questions) are written by Ganzaa.

This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.

1Ways to prevent soil erosion

Try it yourself

Ways to prevent soil erosion