Agroforestry of Smallholder Farmers in Ethiopia: Practices and Benefits

Amare, Dagninet; Wondie, Menale; Mekuria, Wolde; Darr, Dietrich

doi:10.1007/s11842-018-9405-6

Cited by 93 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…There was a significant difference in landholding size among the wealth categories ( p < 0.05; Table 3 ). Households with small land owned were positively associated with the adoption of farmland agroforestry [ 38 ]. Small farm size as the main barrier to tree-planting and increasing of species diversity [ 39 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species diversity, composition, structure and management in agroforestry systems: the case of Kachabira district, Southern Ethiopia

Legesse

Negash

2021

Heliyon

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Agroforestry is increasingly being identified as an integrated land use enhancing plant diversity while reducing habitat loss and fragmentation. This paper examined species diversity, composition, structure and management in agroforestry systems . Two Kebeles (Kachabira and Mesafe) were purposively selected for this study. Then, farmers who dominantly practiced agroforestry practices such as home garden, parkland and live fence were stratified based on wealth categories. Ten percent of the sample households were randomly selected from each wealth category. Accordingly, a total of 83 households were selected. Inventories of plant species were done by sampling one plot of each farm management type. A total of 59 plant species, belonging to 56 genera and 36 families were recorded across the home gardens, parklands and live fences in the study area. Among the plant species, trees constituted 42%, shrubs 27%, herbs 29% and climber 2%. From recorded plant species, 66% were native and the remainders 34% were introduced species. From the native species recorded in this study, Lippia adoensis and Millettia ferruginea were endemic to Ethiopia. The mean Shannon diversity index of rich, medium and poor households in the three different agroforestry practices were 1.75, 1.57 and 1.62 in home garden, 0.36, 0.30 and 0.49 in parkland and 0.84, 0.99 and 1.00 in live fence respectively. The largest tree basal area was recorded in the live fence (14.7 m 2 ha -1 ), followed by home garden and parkland. The study revealed that agroforestry plays an important role in the conservation of biodiversity, and also by providing food, income and a wide range of other products such as fuel wood, construction material, fodder, spices and medicinal plants. Farm household landholding size, species preference and management found to be the most important influencing factors that affect the diversity of plant species. Further detailed study of explicit examining of the factors such as socio-ecological effects that determine species diversity and the contribution of different functional groups to livelihood is needed to fully understand the agroforestry system.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species diversity, composition, structure and management in agroforestry systems: the case of Kachabira district, Southern Ethiopia

Legesse

Negash

2021

Heliyon

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“…Although few studies have examined the rate and frequency of use of inorganic fertilizers by agroforestry and non-agroforestry practicing farmers, some studies have shown that agroforestry contributes towards soil fertility enhancement (Nair, 1985;Nair, 1989;Nair, 2004;Nair and Garrity, 2012;Jose, 2009;Atangana et al, 2013;Bishaw et al, 2013;Leakey, 2017;Munjeb et al, 2018;Quandt et al, 2018;Amare et al, 2018;Leakey, 2019;Tsufac et al, 2019;Awazi and Tchamba, 2019). This implies that, the rate and frequency of use of inorganic fertilizers could be reduced if farmers take to more sustainable agroforestry systems.…”

Section: Rate and Frequency Of Use Of Inorganic Fertilizers By Agrofomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most studies have generally focused on the role played by agroforestry in soil fertility enhancement (Jose, 2009;Bishaw et al, 2013;Leakey, 2017;Munjeb et al, 2018;Amare et al, 2018;Leakey, 2019;Tsufac et al, 2019;Awazi and Tchamba, 2019). Few studies have examined how farmers' practice/non-practice of agroforestry influences their use of inorganic fertilizer.…”

Section: Factors Influencing Inorganic Fertilizer Use By Agroforestrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Inorganic fertilizer use among agroforestry and non-agroforestry practicing farmers in South West Cameroon: A comparative assessment and policy ramifications

Tsufac¹,

Awazi²,

Yerima³

2021

Afr. J. Agric. Res.

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Continuous and excessive use of inorganic fertilizers by farmers across the world is causing more harm than good to croplands. This is because most of these inorganic fertilizers are toxic, which in essence defeats the very purpose for which they are produced. This paper sought to comparatively assess the use of inorganic fertilizer among agroforestry and non-agroforestry practicing farmers in south west Cameroon. Data was collected from both primary and secondary sources, and analyzed using appropriate descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings revealed that, more non-agroforestry practicing farmers were using inorganic fertilizer, in large quantities, and frequently, when compared to their agroforestry practicing counterparts. From logistic regression predictions, it was found that, variables such as level of education, cultivation of cash crops, number of farms, farm size, age, and farm experience had an inverse causal relationship (p<0.05) with agroforestry practicing farmers' use of inorganic fertilizer, and a direct causal relationship (p<0.05) with non-agroforestry practicing farmers' use of inorganic fertilizer. Meanwhile, variables such as income level, household size, cultivation of food crops, cultivation of market gardening crops, membership in farming group, access to extension services, and access to markets had a direct causal relationship (p<0.05) with the use of inorganic fertilizer for both agroforestry and non-agroforestry practicing farmers. It was equally found that, a direct causal relationship (p<0.05) exist between the non-practice of agroforestry and the use of inorganic fertilizer, while an inverse causal relationship (p<0.05) exist between the practice of agroforestry and the use of inorganic fertilizer. This indicates that the practice of agroforestry has huge potentials to contribute towards limiting the use of inorganic fertilizers by farmers. On the basis of these findings, it is recommended that policy makers pay more attention to agro-ecological practices like agroforestry in order to limit the use of inorganic fertilizer by farmers.

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“…This study also reported higher number woody species in agroforestry than natural forest reserves. The practice of purposeful retaining of economically and biologically valuable native species such as Cordia africana, Ficus sycomorus Ficus vasta, Juniperus procera, Croton macrostachyus and Sapium ellipcum in 'farmland agroforestry' have also contributed for conservation of economically and ecologically valuable bird species such as Anomalospiza imberbis and Hirundo aethopica on smallholder farmland in Ethiopia [21]. According to different studies (Table 2), well-established traditional agroforestry can conserve 62%-100% of native plant species.…”

Section: Figure 1 Diversity Of Species In Homegarden Agroforestry Comentioning

confidence: 99%

Agroforestry: A Supplementary Method for Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

Mulatu¹,

Hunde²

2020

IJEE

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Agroforestry of Smallholder Farmers in Ethiopia: Practices and Benefits

Cited by 93 publications

References 37 publications

Species diversity, composition, structure and management in agroforestry systems: the case of Kachabira district, Southern Ethiopia

Species diversity, composition, structure and management in agroforestry systems: the case of Kachabira district, Southern Ethiopia

Inorganic fertilizer use among agroforestry and non-agroforestry practicing farmers in South West Cameroon: A comparative assessment and policy ramifications

Agroforestry: A Supplementary Method for Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

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