Soil erosion in developing countries: where geomorphology fears to tread!

Geomorphology claims an expertise in the study of soil erosion and the development of conservation solutions. Yet what are presented as “facts” about erosion, especially in developing countries where the need for conservation is greatest, is usually unhelpful and sometimes wrong. To understand why the scientific message becomes distorted, geomorphologists should see themselves as actors on a political economic stage, constrained in their role by ideological modes of analysis which themselves shift as science adopts particular ways of promoting itself. The answers given by geomorphological analysis are as much a product of ideology as they are of the process being studied. As applied scientists, geomorphologists could assist their cause greatly by providing quality information on erosion process rates and their impact in a timely and applicable way. Descriptive and predictive models hold scope for extending geomorphological information beyond empirical confines. Examples throughout the paper are drawn from projects in South Asia, South America and southern Africa.