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Soil is being eroded from the village lands of Fandou Béri, in southwestern Niger, at rates of over 30 t ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, as measured by the ¹³⁷Cs method. These figures exceed those that were used to label the Sahel a “hot spot” for soil erosion. The response to these data in international agronomic research organisations has been to make large investments in soil erosion research, but this contrasts with the meagre relative commitment to the problem by local Djerma (Zarma) and Fulani farmers. Farmers are more concerned about the loss of fertility than the loss of soil, per se, a viewpoint that embeds decisions about land use and conservation in a much broader decision-making process. Practices like paillage (laying of millet stalks) could be interpreted as tacit acknowledgement of erosion, but they have many other purposes. We ask, who is correct in their assessment of erosion—the villagers or the agronomists? By …