Agroforestry combines crop production with the sustainable farming of trees. This can also include crop trees such as fruit or palm trees. (Source: Pixabay)

Climate change has been a topic for discussion across the globe for more than a decade. This isn’t just a hot topic due to the recent 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP26, but an issue that is larger than the melting ice caps on the other side of the world. Closer to home, the effects of climate change are felt in the pockets, and even worse, the stomachs of farmers and their families.

The fact of the matter is that the poorer a country is, the more vulnerable it is to climate change. Commercial farmers who farm for profit can withstand the effects such as declining soil fertility, deforestation, and desertification longer, but in the case of smallholder farmers who farm to feed their families, their livelihoods suffer.

Agroforestry may have the answer

This agricultural practice relies on the interaction between mainstream agriculture and trees, aiming to improve some of the negative effects that climate change has on the small farmer both in food security and stimulating bio-economies. These practices can include farming on forest edges, farming in forests, or including trees in crop production.

As a concept, agroforestry aims to protect the natural environment, produce timber and tree-crops to meet the global demands, as well as satisfy the needs of producers.

At face value, planting more trees contribute to long-term carbon sequestration, soil enrichment and biodiversity conservation. As leaves capture carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (carbon sequestration), important nutrients are being deposited in the soil so other crops can grow stronger. Tree roots pull water from deep beneath the surface, bringing deep water closer to the upper soil so other plants such as grass can grow and increase soil cover.

The trees themselves build organic matter in the soil when their leaves fall. This allows the earth to reabsorb nutrients from the tree’s foliage as well as protect the layer of topsoil from drying out, and making healthy loamy soil. Strong tree roots keep the soil together and prevent mudslides during floods.

Agroforestry benefits the farmer by also decreasing the effect of droughts, and unpredictable rainfall patterns by working against the forces that are contributing to global warming.

By adding trees to the farm, a farmer increases agrobiodiversity that improves the sustainability in farming through diversification. This is because trees can also deliver a harvest or provide lumber, ultimately providing more sources of income or food.

Lumber trees can be used for building materials or as fuel wood. Food-producing trees can be cultivated for products such as fruits, nuts, palm oil, cocoa, or coffee. Trees also help address food gaps for animals during dry months by providing fodder for livestock or shade in heavy heat.

Agroforestry, however, requires a long-term mindset. Planting a tree means waiting for it to mature and bear fruits (in the case of fruit trees). Trees are planted, protected, harvested and, in the case of lumber, replaced when they are chopped down. This means that farmers need to expand their skills beyond their existing expertise to tree care as well, understanding which trees should be cultivated, how to plant them, harvest them and for what they are used.

Agroforestry has already shown its worth in many parts of Southern Africa. In Malawi, adding trees near crops or pastures has had a positive effect. The trees provide more organic matter to the soil, shade to young plants, fodder for livestock, and firewood to farmers.

In the Limpopo province in South Africa, planting woody perennials has proven to encourage minimum soil disturbance, increase soil cover and increase agrobiodiversity.

Mozambique’s Gorongosa carbon sequestration project has generated food and revenue by planting mango (Mangifera indica l.) and cashew (Anacardium occidentale l.) orchards, as well as creating woodlots with siris (Albizia lebbeck (l.) Benth.). On top of that, it boosted the charcoal production with African mahogany (Khaya nyasica (Welw.) C.DC.) and aided with soil fertilisation by planting Faidherbia.

The downside to beginning with agroforestry on a farm is that farmers need additional access to resources such as seed or young plants, and secure land where they can successfully apply these practices. Knowledge and skills also need to be cultivated and in some rural communities, these can be hard to come by.

Trees are vital for the terrestrial ecosystems and deliver fundamental products and produce to both rural and urban communities. These living giants offer protection and lifegiving nutrients to the people, animals, and plants around them. Consider including them in your farming activities.

Sources:

https://allafrica.com/stories/202111160511.html

https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/75172

file:///C:/Users/proag/Downloads/ASAPglobalchangeposterresearchgate.pdf

https://www.worldagroforestry.org/about/agroforestry-2?kid=342