Enhancing ethno-pedology: integrated approaches to Kanuri and Shuwa Arab definitions in the Kala–Balge region, northeast Nigeria

Abstract

Ethno-pedology, the systematic definition and classification of indigenous technical knowledge of soil attributes, has often ignored scientific knowledge of soil properties. This paper considers one ethno-pedological class, cesa–goz soils, managed by Kanuri and Shuwa Arab peoples in the Kala–Balge region, northeast Nigeria. Soil micromorphology demonstrates that these soils have been managed in different ways over extended periods, defined by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. This has resulted in discrete soil types, indicating that ethnopedological soil classification can be enhanced by integrating it with scientifically defined soil properties and chronologies. These observations carry major implications for the application of ethnopedology approaches to land management development and the understanding of landscape history.