Agroforestry, broadly defined as the integration of trees and shrubs in farming systems, offers one of the most promising technological options for reversing soil degradation, restoring tree cover, and improving agricultural productivity in africa. Cocoa agroforestry for increasing forest connectivity in a fragmented landscape in ghana richard asare victor afarisefa yaw oseiowusu opoku pabi received. Conventionally, farmers have only grown a single crop on one field. Agroforestry practices have the practice of agroforestry for sustainable land. New agroforestry network for ghana world agroforestry. This study was conducted in the jaman south municipality of ghana to examine the forms and levels of womens participation in agroforestry systems. The university of missouri center for agroforestry umca, established in 1998, is one of the worlds leading centers contributing to the science underlying agroforestry. Cocoa agroforest farms are purposely grown for cocoa, however it also contains. Pdf participation of women farmers in agroforestry.
View pdf world agroforestry home world agroforestry logo. Integration usda will integrate agroforestry into agency programs and policies to maximize and highlight economic, social, and conservation benefits. As such, it plays a critical role in advancing agroforestry to enhance the nations economy and its agricultural landscapes, watersheds, and communities. It may include existing native forests and forests established by landholders. The center for agroforestry at the university of missouri. The integrated practices of agroforestry enhance land and aquatic habitats for fish and wildlife and improve biodiversity while sustaining land resources for generations to come.
Definitions and components of agroforestry practices in. Socioeconomic factors affecting agroforestry adoption in. Farmers crop productivity in the upper region of ghana is the product of my own research work. Simultaneous practices, in which trees and other crops are grown at the same time the type of interactions desired generally influence the arrangement of trees and crops in space. Types of agroforestry practices lafia north lafia south lafia west lafia east respondents percentage rowhedges 11 8 6 5 30 25 trees on farm land 2 4 6 7 19 15. Desirable information for each species includes its benefits, adaptability to local conditions climate, soil, and stresses, the size and form of the canopy and root system, and suitability for various agroforestry practices. This agroforestry training manual is first intended for ghanaian farmers, many of. Socioeconomic factors affecting agroforestry adoption in ghana e. Agroforestry practices by farmers will augment other climate change adaptation strategies employed in ghana. Agroforestry systems are traditional land use systems that were and are used in europe. They recently produced the usdasarefunded publication, agroforestry guides for pacific islands, which provides planning information for a number of agroforestry practices. The agroforestry strategic framework pdf, 562 kb is a roadmap for agroforestry services usda provides to landowners through its conservation programs. Mar 27, 2020 the following images show examples of agroforestry systems in practice in different locations in ethiopia.
Despite the key roles of women in agroforestry systems, their contributions usually go unnoticed in male dominated societies. Objectives the main purpose of this study was to document the farmer preferences on agroforestry practices. Agroforestry is a collective name for landuse systems and technologies where woody perennials trees, shrubs, palms, bamboos, etc. In order to plan for the use of trees in agroforestry systems, considerable knowledge of their properties is necessary.
However, the implication here is that improved or new agroforestry technologies that are introduced into new areas should also conform to local farming practices. Despite the sustainable nature of agro forestry as land use system, it is less practice in ghana. Agroforestry is a system of land management that integrates tree and shrub plantings with crops or livestock in order to generate economic, environmental and social benefits. Also, there is a belief that crops cannot grow well. In the tropics, all farming should have some trees in it to protect plants and soil from heavy rains and to give shade from the sun.
Ghana news agency quotes mr lovans owusutakyi, lecturer at the kumasi institute of tropical agriculture kita, as saying that agroforestry practices such as alley cropping, food woodlots, windbreaks, life fencing and crop rotation can enable farmers to integrate beneficial trees with food crops. Click on the hotspots to learn more about the synergies in this agroforestry system. As a result of this, the different agroforestry practices have received increased attention. A major weapon in this battle to achieve sustainability on the small and medium scale farm in west africa, is the idea of combining and using agroforestry techniques. These pictures were taken during a research stay at the slope farming project in arba minch. Aug 01, 2011 agroforestry practices to develop stateoftheart tools and technologies. Assessing the adoption potential of agroforestry practices. Tafs, agroforestry, homegardens, ecological services. Participation of women farmers in agroforestry practices in. Scherr agricultural and resource economics department, university of maryland, college park, usa cabi publishing in association with the international centre for research in. This paper discusses the effects of trees on soil fertility, with a focus on agricultural systems in amazonia. Trees also perform many, many other beneficial functions. More information about specific agroforestry practices is provided below.
Its purpose is to produce food, wood, fibre and at the same time ensures the conservation of land resource. It is a flexible concept, involving both small and largesized land holdings. In collaboration with the soil research institutesri and the forestry research institute of ghana forig we aim. Pdf socioeconomic factors affecting agroforestry adoption in ghana. They also publish the overstory, an electronic information resource for reforestation, conservation, and agroforestry, with subscribers in over 170 countries. Pdf an assessment of traditional agroforestry practices in. Pdf socioeconomic factors affecting agroforestry adoption by. It is intended that this guide will be issued to all trainees and extrainees. Assessing the adoption potential of agroforestry practices in africa edited by s.
Agroforestry science will be interpreted and tools tailored to accommodate diverse users. Wilfrid pineau, is now completed and ready for distribution. Agroforestry is defined briefly as the integration of trees and crops on the same land management unit. Agroforestry, onfarm trees, agrobased characteristics. Many landowners and land managers do not realize that forest management can be purposefully coupled with agriculture. Pdf titles in the working paper series share interim results on agroforestry research and practices to stimulate feedback from the scientific community. Lundgren institutional aspects of agroforestry research and development 5 john spears agroforestry. Agroforestry practices on smallholder farms are rapidly becoming an important aspect of most traditional farming systems. Socioeconomic factors affecting agroforestry adoption in ghana. Cocoa agroforestry systems around the world cacao forest. Population growth, increasing pressure on natural resources, increasing commercialisation of products, land fragmentation and. Participation of women farmers in agroforestry practices in the jaman south municipality, ghana article pdf available august 2019 with 219 reads how we measure reads. For a more detailed account of the woody species involved, see nair, 1983 d and nair et al.
Consequently, agroforestry is often absent from recommendations for ensuring food security under climate change, even though many practices have been shown to deliver benefits for rural development, buffer against climate variability, help rural populations adapt to climate change and contribute to climate change mitigation 15, 16. Soil carbon, in the form of organic matter, is considered as an indicator of. The practice of agroforestry in ghana needs policy recommendations to bring major. It is the dryland agroforestry in arid and semiarid areas, e.
This intentional act of combining agriculture and forestry to create integrated and sustainable landuse systems is called agroforestry. Swaminathan the promise of agroforestry for ecological and nutritional security 4 bjorn o. Primary data was collected from 80 randomly selected farmers from four farming communities in the offinso district of ghana. Agroforestry as a sustainable landuse system in ghana. Agroforestry solutions to address food security and climate. By so doing agroforestry is anticipated to moderate the effect of climate change variations. Cocoa agroforestry for increasing forest connectivity. Assessing the adoption potential of agroforestry practices in.
Agroforestry and the improvement of soil fertility. The history of agroforestry icraf and a decade of agroforestry development section 2 perspectives on agroforestry 3 m. It has been practiced in the united states and around the world for centuries. This study was designed to assess the preference of smallscale farmers in agroforestry technologies and practices in kenya as per the objectives below. They can be defined as those land use systems which involve two main components treesshrubs and an agricultural crop which could also be pasture and are artificially managed. Nigeria and ghana were established to train young farmers in the theory and practice of an agronomy which encourages the maintenance of soil fertility. Planting, replanting and tree diversification in cocoa systems authors richard asare and sonii david collaborating partner sustainable tree crops program of the international institute of tropical agriculture p. This intentional combination of agriculture and forestry has varied benefits, including increased biodiversity and reduced erosion. In ghana, agroforestry is an important landuse system which has been practiced, particularly by rural communities ofori et al. In agroforestry systems there are both ecological and. Introduction agroforestry in very simple terms may be referred to as the deliberate growing of woody perennials on the.
Franzel international centre for research in agroforestry icraf, nairobi, kenya s. Agroforestry systems examples of practices in ethiopia. Although some agroforestry practices, such as windbreaks and shelterbelts, are popular in quebec, agroforestry as a whole is not well known in the quebec agrifood sector. Agroforestry is the management and integration of trees, crops andor livestock on the same plot of land and can be an integral component of productive agriculture. Keywords forestcorridors protected forests biodiversity costbene. Agroforestry practices and concepts in sustainable land use.
A particularly significant event was the 1993 conference on agroforestry parklands of the west african semiarid lands organized by icraf in ouagadougou, which brought together people from various disciplines and geographic areas. It referes to agroforestry in the wet lands or in waterlogged areas, e. Agroforestry has been suggested as a practice to counteract declining yields, but quantitative data on the effects of shade trees in cocoa systems are scarce and implementation of agroforestry practices are limited. The fact that agroforestry is a relatively new word for an old set of practices means that, in some cases, agroforestry was already been accepted by the farming community. In collaboration with the soil research institutesri and the. Traditionally, cocoa was planted under partially cleared forest with remaining trees. Despite the key roles of women in agroforestry systems, their contributions usually go unnoticed in maledominated societies. In permaculture we use lots of different sorts of agroforestry systems. Agroforestry practices and concepts in sustainable land. Cocoa agroforestry for increasing forest connectivity in a. Pdf smallholder farmers and agroforestry land use optimisation. Agroforestry practices have been successful in subsaharan africa and in parts of the united states. This paper examines the socioeconomic factors that affect agroforestry adoption by smallholder farmers in ghana.
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