Experts in Egypt and Senegal will be better able to fight soil erosion thanks to two gamma spectroscopy detectors which have just been delivered through the IAEA’s technical cooperation programme. The detectors will be used for soil erosion assessment in areas that have experienced severe land degradation, a phenomenon that jeopardizes agriculture in many regions of the world, including in arid and semi-arid lands in Africa.
Egypt and Senegal are both suffering from severe land degradation, with soil productivity in most of the northeast Nile Delta in Egypt, for instance, having decreased by more than 45% in the last 35 years according to recent studies. Land degradation is the result of several factors, including overexploitation of land, unsustainable agricultural practices and extreme weather events – which have occurred more frequently in the last few decades. Soil erosion, a major type of land degradation caused by both human and environmental factors, can lead to the complete loss of the fertile topsoil, leaving the affected land unfit for agriculture.
Agriculture is an important economic sector in most African countries (accounting for approximately 12% of Egypt’s GDP and 17% of Senegal’s), and low-input farming from subsistence farms run by families represents a significant component of this sector. It accounts for a high proportion of jobs, and provides livelihoods to subsistence farmers and their families. As this type of farming typically takes place on arid and semiarid land with marginal agricultural potential, such as drylands and mountains, it is particularly susceptible to soil erosion.
The IAEA, in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), has been assisting countries for more than 20 years in combating land degradation by supporting the utilization of isotopic techniques to assess soil erosion.
The provision of gamma spectrometers, which are used to carry out the Cs-137 measurements, is part of an ongoing initiative by the Joint FAO/IAEA Division to help African countries enhance their capacity to control soil erosion; this also includes the training of scientists on the use of the Cs-137 method and the establishment of gamma spectroscopy capacities across the continent. Another three tabletop gamma detectors (for Madagascar, Algeria and Zimbabwe) and three portable gamma detectors (for Morocco, Tunisia and Madagascar) have already been delivered.
“We will use the gamma detectors for the ‘fingerprinting’ of sedimentation in the Nile River to trace the origin of contamination from different sources, such as drainage from industrial and agricultural bodies located on the riverbank,” said Mohamed Kassab, a lecturer at the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority’s Nuclear Research Centre. “We also plan to help other countries in Africa to build capacity in gamma measurements and analytical services.”
Original source: IAEA
Published on 9 November 2018
