Determinant of farmers’ participation and biodiversity status in the program of agroforestry rehabilitation in Sudan

Abstract

Abstract. Hemida M, Mulyana B, Vityi A. 2022. Determinant of farmers’ participation and biodiversity status in the program of agroforestry rehabilitation in Sudan. Biodiversitas 23: 5638-5645. The agroforestry Rehabilitation Program (ARP) was launched in Nabag Reserve Forest (NRF), Sudan, to rehabilitate the forest cover and improve livelihoods for communities around the forest. To enhance the efficacy of such rehabilitation programs, it is crucial to understand the impact of various factors on community perception of participation in forest rehabilitation. The objectives of this study were to (i) examine the factors that influence farmers’ perceptions of their involvement in the program and (ii) assess the biodiversity of trees and crop species in the program. Data was gathered through a survey that included personal interviews with 200 farmers who participated in the program. A total of 250 circular sample plots were established randomly to achieve the second objective. The results showed that extension services, farming experience, family members, educational level, land size, and gum Arabic production positively influence farmers’ perceptions. The study findings identified nine tree species and five crop species in NRF. The dominant tree species were Acacia senegal and Balanites aegyptiaca which represented 62.8% and 12.4 % of the total species, respectively. At the same time, groundnut and watermelon were identified as favorite crops cultivated by farmers. Furthermore, the non-rehabilitated area has shown better value in richness, heterogeneity, and evenness than the rehabilitated areas.

Assessment and Mapping of Forest Cover Change in Dryland, Sudan Using Remote Sensing

“…Additionally, frequent civil wars have resulted in significant losses of vegetation cover [42]. A study by [1,2,38,43] corroborates these findings, suggesting deforestation, flooding, soil erosion, and unplanned urban and agricultural expansion could lead to such LULC changes. The study also emphasizes that LULC modifications, influenced by varying environmental, political, demographic, and socio-economic conditions, are dynamic and directly affect communities living near forests.…”

“…Studies on forest rehabilitation indicate that tree planting typically accelerates the recovery of forest vegetation [37]. Hemida et al [38] that the increase in forest cover during a certain period can be attributed to the Taungya agroforestry program initiated by the FNC in early 2005 and continuing to the present day. Salih [39] also reported that the Taungya program positively contributed to rehabilitating 3024 ha of NFR between 2005 and 2013.…”

Transforming agroforestry through gender practice: Challenges and opportunities

“…This gender disparity can be attributed to a multitude of factors; deeply entrenched social norms are among the main ones. As explained above, these norms contribute to women's lower wealth levels and restricted access to land, labour and extension services, as well as limitations imposed by inheritance systems, and the lack of rights for women to grow trees (Kiptot and Franzel 2011;Bourne et al 2015;Diawuo et al 2019;Hemida et al 2022).…”

Synergistic Interactions of Soil and Vegetation in Agroforestry Systems in Mitigating Climate Change in Upper East Region, Ghana

“…Thus: agrisilviculture -combining trees/shrubs and crops, silvopastoral -keeping pasture/animals with trees and agrisilvopastoral -integration of crops, pasture/animals and trees. There is also a temporal agroforestry system called Taungya, which involves the cultivation of forestry tree crops and farmers' subsistence crops on a forest (Hemida et al, 2023).…”