Agrobiodiversity of homegardens in a commercial sugarcane cultivation land matrix in Uganda

Abstract

Understanding biodiversity in homegardens embedded in landscapes dominated by commercial monoculture agriculture is critical for sustainable management of agrobiodiversity and meeting rural households' needs in the face of global changes. We assessed agrobiodiversity in the 120 homegardens and its contribution to rural household livelihood strategies within a commercial monoculture sugarcane cultivation land matrix in eastern Uganda. We recorded a total of 68 plant species from 46 genera representing 27 families. Species richness spanned 6 to 19 species, and α-diversity (H') ranged from 0.6 to 2.3; with 86.67% of the homegardens having H' >1. Species composition differed significantly (global R ANOSIM = 0.153, p < 0.001) among the villages. The most important and commonly maintained plants were those that provided food, fuelwood and money income and included Zea mays L., Manihot esculenta, Phaesolus spp., Coffea sp., Musa spp., Ipomea batatus and Artocarpus heterophyllus. Most of the crops cited as useful by households were also frequent and visible in many of the homegardens. Although homegardens still hold some valuable plants, there is also loss of important plants from the agricultural system including cowpeas, soya beans, bambara groundnuts, finger millet, cotton, aerial yams and oysternut essential for sustaining household livelihoods. This loss, precipitated by increased land-use/cover change to commercial sugarcane plantations threatens agrobiodiversity conservation and the benefits households derive from homegardens. Our findings underline the importance of homegardens in the conservation of indigenous agrobiodiversity, and indicate that with the continued expansion of commercial sugarcane cultivation this opportunity may be lost. ARTICLE HISTORY

Quintais agroflorestais na Amazônia Central: caracterização, importância social e agrobiodiversidade

“…A estratificação é reflexo do próprio caráter multifuncional desses agroecossistemas domésticos. A presença de diferentes espécies vegetais e animais ocupando os diversos estratos resultam na exploração de nichos diversificados e evidencia a complexidade desses agroecossistemas (GALLUZZI et al, 2010;FRISON et al, 2011;CULTRERA et al, 2012;MWAVU et al, 2016).…”

“…Os quintais agroflorestais são sistemas tradicionais de uso da terra que reúnem diferentes espécies de plantas e animais localizados próximos às moradias humanas (CULTRERA et al, 2012). A quantidade de plantas com uso múltiplo existentes nos quintais (PEREIRA e FIGUEIREDO NETO, 2015;ALEMU, 2016;MWAVU et al, 2016) aliada às colheitas em diferentes épocas do ano (MAROYI, 2013) contribuem para o fornecimento diversificado de produtos durante todo o ano e em muitas ocasiões promovem o sustento de famílias com poucos recursos financeiros (GALLUZZI et al, 2010).…”

Expansion of Commercial Sugarcane Cultivation among Smallholder Farmers in Uganda: Implications for Household Food Security

“…Results of the present study reveal that the people in this commercial sugarcane growing region are food insecure, as they do not always have both the physical and economic access to sufficient food to meet their dietary needs for a productive and healthy life [13,26,27]. In their study in the same region Mwavu et al [12] found that a majority of the households rely on subsistence crop agriculture and agrobiodiversity of home gardens as their main source of food and income. Similarly, for most of oil palm smallholders in Papua New Guinea, living on land settlement schemes, garden food production, whether for domestic consumption or for sale at local markets, is a fundamental component of their livelihood strategies [10].…”

“…Similarly, in Swaziland, sugarcane out-growers particularly the poorer ones were unable to meet their food requirements after converting all their land to rain-fed sugarcane [34]. The widespread conversion of wetland, forest, and arable crop land areas, leading to a commercial sugarcane plantation land matrix in the Busoga sub-region, is resulting in the loss of biodiversity; yet, biodiversity is fundamental to agricultural production and food security [12,35]. Loss of forest in the area has serious implications for household food security, since forests represent an important repository of food and other resources that can play a key role in contributing to food security, especially if integrated into complex systems that are managed for multiple benefits [36].…”

“…Similarly, for most of oil palm smallholders in Papua New Guinea, living on land settlement schemes, garden food production, whether for domestic consumption or for sale at local markets, is a fundamental component of their livelihood strategies [10]. However, the home gardens in the Busoga sub-region are also increasingly experiencing the loss of important and nutritious food crops like cowpeas, soya beans, aerial yams, and Bambara groundnuts [12] from agricultural systems. Thus, in the study area, subsistence food crop agriculture is increasingly under threat, yet according to research by Baiphethi & Jacobs [28] it can play an important role in reducing the vulnerability of rural and urban food insecure households and improving livelihoods.…”