Comparison of International, National and Farmers' Classification Systems, Applied to Soils of the Western Dagomba District (Northern Ghana)

Abstract

Geografisk Tidsskrift, Danish Journal of Geography 97: 47–57, 1997.

Selected soils developed on the Voltaian Shale formation have been studied. Classification of a Vertic and a Lateritic soil is compared in four systems: 1) Soil Taxonomy (Soil Survey Staff 1996), 2) FAO- UNESCO (1990), 3) the Ghanaian soil classification system (Brammer 1962), and 4) the local Farmer's classification system (Mikkelsen 1994). The comparison deals with the quantity and quality of information provided by each classification name. The study reveals that the local Farmers' classification system provides a considerable amount of information. It appears to focus much attention upon the requirements for optimal crop production using existing cropping techniques. The latter is oriented to a sustainable form of agriculture that has little capacity for incorporation of new techniques such as the use of tractors, introduction of new crops, or intensive use of fertilisers. It is recommended in the future that soil surveys should make an effort to gather the information that the local population can provide and eventually include this information in the database. This procedure will provide a more holistic approach in future land use planning.

Keywords:

• Soil classification
• farmers
• sustainable land use
• Northern Ghana