Temporal changes in soil chemical and nutritional properties were evaluated in a long-term experiment conducted on Alfisols in West Africa. Effects of land use and cropping duration on soil chemical properties at 0-5 cm and 5-10 cm depths were evaluated for five treatments: (1) alley cropping with Leucaenn leucocephala established on the contour at 4-m intervals; (2) mucuna (Mucuna utilis) fallowing for 1 year followed by maize (Zea mays)-cowpea (Vignn unguiculata) cultivation for 2 years on severely degraded land; (3) fallowing with mucuna on moderately degraded soils; (4) ley farming involving growing improved pastures for 1 year, grazing for the second year, and growing maizexowpea for the third year on severely degraded land; (5) ley farming on moderately degraded soils. Soil chemical properties were measured once every year from 1982 through 1986 during the dry season, and included pH, soil organic carbon (SOC), total soil nitrogen (TSN), Bray-P, exchangeable cations, and effective cation exchange capacity (CEC). Regardless of the cropping system treatments, soil chemical quality decreased with cultivation time. The rate of decrease at 0-5 cm depth was 0.23 units year-' for pH, 0.05 per cent year-' for SOC, 0.012 per cent year-' for TSN, 0.49 cmol kg-' year-' for Ca2+, 0.03 cmol kg-' year-' for Mg'+, 0.018 cmol kg-' year-' for K ' , and 0.48 cmol kg-' year-' for CEC. Although there was also a general decrease in soil chemical quality at 5-10 cm depth, the trends were not clearly defined. In contrast to the decrease in soil properties given above, there was an increase in concentration at 0-5 cm depth of total acidity with cultivation time at the rate of 0.62 cmol kg-' year-', and of Mn" concentration at the rate of 0.081 cmol kg-' year-'. Continuous cropping also increased the concentration of Bray-P at 0-5 cm depth due to application of phosphatic fertilizer. Trends in soil chemical properties were not clearly defined with regards to cropping system treatments. In general, however, soil chemical properties were relatively favorable in ley farming and mucuna fallowing treatments imposed on moderately degraded soils. Results are discussed in terms of recommended rates of fertilizer use, in view of soil test values, expected yields, and critical limits of soil properties.