Assessment of factors Influencing gully erosion for its remediation in Eastern Nigeria

Abstract

Gully erosion is an easily observable footprint in the soil, and its factors have been studied using a piecemeal approach in Eastern Nigeria in the coverage of the region and the concept. This study assessed the factors of gully erosion in the region. The region’s nine most gully erosion-risk areas were purposively sampled. One community alongside its large gully located in each of the most gullied areas was conveniently sampled for the assessment of the factors in the perspectives of the directly and adversely affected community residents living in close proximity to the gullies within a radius of 0.3km2 (300m2). A total number of 370 household heads as respondents was purposively sampled. The Likert Scale used in ranking agreement on factors of gully erosion has four levels: strongly agree (4), agree (3), disagree (2), and strongly disagree (1). The Chi-square (X2) of the SPSS, version 22.0 was used for data analysis. The results indicated that the respondents’ strong agreement on the factors influencing gully erosion in the region is thus: Erodibility > Rainfall > Roads > Soil type > Vegetation cover loss > Deforestation > Urbanization > Population > Agriculture practices> Climate change > Geology. There was a significan difference in the mean rating among the affected people on the factors influencing gully development and expansion in the region (X2 value = 749.040, p = 0.00 < 0.05), with its implication in remediating the phenomenon. Remediation strategies proffered for gully erosion in the study area included prioritization of the quantification of the erodibility variable found to be the most factor of gully erosion in gully erosion studies so as to understand in scientific terms the degree of its influence on gully development for determining the applicable remediation strategies,as well as enhancement and integration of the coping strategies of the directly and adversely affected community residents into remediation strategies, among others.