Environmental sustainability is achieved by making badly degraded land productive. This reduces to a minimum the land tenure problems that often plague large-scale SWC projects that use heavy machinery. The main stakeholders and beneficiaries are the farmers. Through1995, agricultural extensionalists were promoting the technique and providing the farmers with simple tools and training. Most farmers, however, were carrying out their own techniques without waiting for the extensionalists.
Farmers learn and copy techniques from other farmers.
In years with more rain, however, it increases the yield very much. The region is characterised by considerable population pressure on limited agricultural resources. Farmers living on degraded plateaus, with no access to fertile land in the valleys, clearly have an interest in rehabilitating degraded land. Farmers are treating degraded land owned by themselves. This reduces to a minimum the land tenure problems that often plague large-scale SWC projects that use heavy machinery.