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improving the fertility of soils and increasing productivity of the
land. Trees also provide erosion control, improve water infiltration,
provide land cover and shade and act as windbreaks.
In Senegal, planting strips of
Casuarina spp
. in the Niayes coastal
stretch north of Dakar has stopped the movement of sand dunes and
provided shelter from the sea winds that made any type of agricul-
ture impossible. Market gardening is now thriving and provides a
livelihood to an increasing number of settlers.
Fertilizer trees which capture nitrogen from the atmosphere and
transfer it to the soil provide a low cost way for farmers to improve
soil fertility and boosts crop yields. In Malawi, Zambia, Kenya,
Tanzania, Niger, Burkina Faso and other countries in sub-Saharan
Africa, fertilizer trees are doubling and tripling average maize yields.
In pastoral areas of sub-Saharan Africa, three-quarters of the
10,000 tree and woody species are used as fodder, supplying up
to 50 per cent of livestock feed, particularly during the dry season
when grass and crop leftovers are scarce.
In Shinyanga, Tanzania, a comprehensive soil conservation and
agroforestry project has seen the planting of 500,000 hectares of
woodlots which supply feed for animals in the dry season. As a
result, smallholder farmers have seen their profits rise by as much
as US$500 per year.
Realizing agroforestry’s full potential
Agroforestry is complementary to the three UN environmen-
tal conventions with enormous potential to increase biodiversity
conservation, address climate change and combat desertification.
It also contributes to development objectives, offering multiple
livelihood benefits to smallholder farmers, including: diversified
income, resilience to risk, nutritious foods, medicines,
green fertilizers, timber, fuel wood and fodder. But what
will it take to increase the adoption of agroforestry on
a global scale?
Current interest in payment for environmental serv-
ices (PES) schemes seeks to reward those who provide
environmental services on behalf of those who benefit.
In many cases, financial transfers are not the primary
issue. To improve the livelihoods of people in upland
areas often requires resolution of conflicts over land
use rights, recognition and respect, and access to the
educational and health services that beneficiaries of
environmental services take for granted. Experience
from World Agroforestry Centre programmes, RUPES
in Asia and PRESA in Africa, has shown that reward and
co-investment schemes that start from the needs of rural
poor and consider options for land use change can make
a difference beyond the financial value of cash transfers.
In the case of agroforestry, such environmental services
include conserving biodiversity, storing carbon, prevent-
ing degradation and protecting watersheds.
Under the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change, nations can agree to participate in
schemes that will reduce emissions from deforestation
and forest degradation. At the local level, this may well
result in reward and recognition schemes that remove
bottlenecks for farmers to benefit from growing trees
on their farms.
Research has shown that successful PES initiatives
must be long-term commitments and accountability
for environmental outcomes is more effective than
payments for labour and effort. Because trees are
usually a long-term investment, up-front payments may
be needed to encourage the adoption of agroforestry.
The need to overcome policy constraints is still
holding farmers back from taking full advantage of
growing trees on their farms. In 2010 the World
Agroforestry Centre launched the Agroforestry Policy
Initiative which is designed to kick-start a global review
of outdated policies and forest regulations.
Improved policies would see better coordination
among different ministries that would promote clear
tenure rights to land, forests, and trees, thus improving
farmer access to agroforestry information and germ-
plasm, and creating integrated competitive and fair
markets. For example, following reforms to the Code
Forestier in Niger, farmers have again been cultivating
trees and the country has seen a tremendous increase
in tree cover on over 5 million hectares in the past 20
years.
10
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations is developing agroforestry guidelines for
national policies and decision-making with the involve-
ment of key development and research institutions.
Greater investment is needed to support smallholder
farmers in adopting agroforestry practices – such as
provision of tree planting material, information and
training, access to credit – so that they can improve
incomes and ensure food security while at the same
time providing environmental benefits.
Baobab fruits in Niger
Image: Julius Atia/World Agroforestry Centre