The Mitsui & Co. Environment Fund
Introduction to Grant Projects
Tokyo Metropolitan University, Graduate School and Faculty of Urban Environmental Sciences, Nature and Culture-Based Tourism Course Professor Takashi Ozaki
Proposal of topsoil management methods that will contribute to disaster prevention and the resolution of food problems in West Africa and the Sahel region, and identification of optimal diffusion methods
Research grant
- Project Description
The purpose of this research is to clarify the mechanism of how drought and flood damage occur from the perspective of man-made disasters, verify whether the fallow band system that is a topsoil preservation and increased food production technology newly developed by the applicant is effective as a technology for preventing droughts and floods, and to also clarify the optimal diffusion methods for this system. Specifically, the results of measurements in the field conducted jointly with the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics will be expanded using a three-dimensional soil moisture dynamics prediction model to clarify the mechanism of how droughts and flood damage occur in the Sahel region, and verify effects of the introduction of the fallow band system in agricultural areas in terms of drought and flood damage mitigation and increased yields. In addition, agricultural economic and sociological approaches will be used to clarify the optimal methods for the diffusion of the fallow band system in the Sahel region.
- Fields
- Preservation of surface soil and forests
- Grant year
- FY2011 Research Grants
- Grant term
- 2 years
April 2012 - March 2014
- Grant amount
- 4,691,000 yen
- Activity region
- West Africa and the Sahel region (mainly the Republic of Niger)
Overview of the Organization
- Representative
- Professor Takashi Ozaki
- Profile
- Specialist field
Plant nutrition and soil science, environmental dynamics analysis, environmental and agricultural science
Affiliated academic societies
Japanese Society Of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, Japanese Society of Pedology, American Society of Agronomy, Soil Science Society of America
Background
Professional experience
April 1981 Researcher at Kyoto University Faculty of Agriculture
August 1981 Appointed as Assistant Professor at Kyoto University Faculty of Agriculture
April 1985 Post changed to Assistant Professor at Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine
April 1990 Post changed to Assistant Professor at Kyoto University Faculty of Agriculture
June 1994 Promoted to Professor at Kyoto University Faculty of Agriculture
April 1997 Transferred to Kyoto University Graduate School of Agriculture
April 2002 Transferred to Kyoto University Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies
April 2008 Promoted to Professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University, Graduate School and Faculty of Urban Environmental Sciences and appointed as Emeritus Professor at Kyoto University (up until present)
Degree
January 1982 Acquired doctorate from Kyoto University Graduate School of Agriculture - WEB site
- http://www.ues.tmu.ac.jp/tourism/
- Collaborating researchers
- Kenta Igasaki (Tokyo Metropolitan University), Yuko Sasaki (Research Institute for Humanity and Nature), Dougbedji Fatondji (International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics)
- Research record
-
- (1) Kosaki, T. 2002: Desertification (Soil Degradation): Causes and Remedies. Plenary Papers of The Proceedings of International Symposium on Combating Desertification "Strategies for Yellows and Prevention", Korean Forest Service, Seoul, Korea, p1-24
- (2) Shinjo, H., Hayashi, K., Abdoulaye, T. and Kosaki, T. 2008: Management of livestock excreta through corralling practices by sedentary pastoralists in the Sahelian region of West Africa: A case study in southwestern Niger, Tropical Agriculture and Development, 52(4), 97-103
- (3) Ikazaki, K., Shinjo, H., Tanka, U., Tobita, S. and Kosaki, T. 2009: Sediment catcher to trap coarse organic matter and soil particles transported by wind. Transactions of the Am. Soc. Agric. Bio. Eng., 52(2), 487-492 (ASABE Paper Award)
- (4) Sugihara, S., Funakawa, S., Kilasara, M. and Kosaki, T. 2010: Effect of land management and soil texture on seasonal variations in soil microbial biomass in dry tropical agroecosystems in Tanzania. Appl. Soil Ecol., 44, 80-88
- (5) Ikazaki, K., H. Shinjo, U. Tanaka, S. Tobita, S. Funakawa, and T. Kosaki. 2011: "Fallow Band System," a land management practice for controlling desertification and improving crop production in the Sahel, West Africa: 1. Effectiveness in desertification control and soil fertility improvement. Soil Sci. Plant Nutr., 57(4), 573-586 (SSPN Award)