Conventionally, farmers have only grown a single crop on one field. Despite big headlines and big money devoted to massive treeplanting projects that pledge to stave off desertification, the most effective method may be nurturing native seeds, rootstocks, and trees. Chris reij, vrije universiteit amsterdam, the netherlands. Icraf international council for research in agroforestry ids institute of development studies of the uk. In this region, the most common forms of evergreen agriculture are conservation agriculture with trees cawt, practiced mainly in zambia and maize agroforestry, mainly practiced in malawi, these two forms of evergreen agriculture are changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of farmers in southern africa. An aerial view of agroforestry management practices in niger in 2004. Agroforestry feeding the world association francaise d. Hardwood and fruit trees are planted in rows between alleys of arable and vegetable crops managed on an organic. He supports the work of the global restoration initiative. At the time this document was written, alain seznec is an agronomnist with the technical department of. Indigenous soil and water conservation in africa introduction. It is dominated by a mix of faidherbia albida and acacia nilotica this regreening update has a focus on the tigray region in northern ethiopia. A menu of solutions to feed nearly 10 billion people by 2050 1 executive summary as the global population grows from 7 billion in 2010 to a projected 9. Transformations internal newsletter of the world agroforestry centre vol 8 issue 18 24112015 in this issue paving the way for a land degradation neutral world new australian high commissioner to kenya.
Mar 03, 2020 no one knew for sure how much fmnr had caught on until wris chris reij had what he calls his apostle paul moment in 2004. For example, in roman times, mediterranean farmers used to. Wisdom, knowledge and practice in temperate forest gardening pdf quantity. The agroforestry strategic framework pdf, 562 kb is a roadmap for agroforestry services usda provides to landowners through its conservation programs. Such agroforestry was common in africa before colonization, rinaudo explains, but with modernization and colonial agriculture methods of clearing the trees, people lost the habit of leaving trees on their land. In the late 1970s, sahelian agriculture experienced recurrent. Chris reij world resources institute, washington, dc. Farmermanaged natural regeneration fmnr is a lowcost, sustainable land restoration technique used to combat poverty and hunger amongst poor subsistence farmers in developing countries by increasing food and timber production, and resilience to climate extremes.
Here are some professional resources and organizations. Six steps to success is intended to help make this more likely. Their mission is to encourage all who work in agriculture in north america to adopt sustainable agroforestry. African regreening update 2014 number 1, april 2014. Potential contributions to food security from scaling up agroforestry and improved soil and water management practices in burkina faso working paper version 1. It is broadly defined as widelyspaced rows of trees andor shrubs single or multiple, that create alleyways within which agricultural crops or horticultural crops are produced. New agroforestry parklands in niger on 5 million ha 12. As world population increases, the need for more productive and sustainable use of the land becomes more urgent. Agroforestry is a growing niche area and becoming increasingly important for sustainability in the developed and the developing world. It is hard to imagine that this is not a natural forest, but an agroforestry system. As aba hawi told his storyhis voice booming into a microphone connected to a loudspeaker and trees, crops and water forming his backdropit was hard to imagine that 15 years ago this land was bare and unproductive, the people relying on food aid for. Yet such numbers pale in comparison to the losses of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium from subsaharan farm fields. Upscaling the benefits of agroforestry through farmer managed natural regeneration.
After giving a presentation on farmers innovations at a university in niger, the faculty dean took him to see lands where farmers had brought back the trees. Farming the desert transform desert in green africa the necessity to continue support for agriculture and grazing is essential. At the time this document was written, alain seznec is an agronomnist with the technical department of the world banks africa regional office. The authors of the report, two wri senior fellows, have worked on landscape restoration in africas drylands since the mid1970s, and bring deep practical experience to the debate about how to accelerate forest regeneration. Some successful uses of trees in isolation are given in table 3. Near the start of the rainy season in june 1983, tony rinaudo hauled a load of trees in his truck to be planted in remote villages in the maradi region of niger. Agroforestry is a collective name for landuse systems and technologies where woody perennials trees, shrubs, palms, bamboos, etc. Alley cropping is a type of agroforestry that involves growing an agricultural crop simultaneously with a longterm tree crop. This area is referred to as gedeo and it is famous for its complex agroforestry systems with false banana enset and coffee as two important species. The benefits of agroforestry derive from the interactions between trees and shrubs and crops and livestock. This paper explores the main institutional and political factors contributing to the gap between evidence and mainstream policiesfunding priorities in dryland management. Both men have a deep knowledge of the transformation that has taken place in the area, having been there from the.
Nontrees any crop plant can be used in agroforestry systems. The great green wall didnt stop desertification, but it evolved into something that might. Farmer managed natural regeneration fmnr is a lowcost land restoration technique used to combat poverty and hunger amongst poor subsistence farmers by increasing food and timber production and resilience to climate extremes. Chris reij and will critchley of the netherlands to name a few.
Erin gray, norbert henninger, chris reij, robert winterbottom, and paola agostini integrated landscape approaches for africas drylands isbn 9781464808265. Bucking tradition bringing back agroforestry and proving its benefits wasnt easy, however. Indigenous soil and water conservation in africa introduction many parts of africa are experiencing annual population growth rates between 2 and 4 %, degradation of the natural resource base, recurrent droughts and a growing dependence on food aid as well as the import of cereals to cover food deficits. Today, it has more than 60 species of trees and bushes and is arguably one of the most diverse forests planted. Overview of water and soil nutrient management under. This update is mainly about forest restoration and agroforestry in ethiopia and about the activities of the w4ra, web alliance for regreening in the sahel. Pdf on jan 1, 2010, chris reij and others published agroenvironmental. How ethiopia went from famine crisis to green revolution. Agroforestry, defined as landuse systems in which trees are grown in association with agricultural crops, pastures or livestock, has been used by humankind for thousands of years young 1997. Aug 23, 2016 the great green wall didnt stop desertification, but it evolved into something that might. It has been noticed that farmers have invested massively in agroforestry. Upscaling the benefits of agroforestry through farmer.
Garrity qualified agroforestry as a climate resilient agriculture. Belemvire world resources institute, washington, d. Overview of water and soil nutrient management under smallholder rainfed agriculture in. The combination of reduced erosion and treeroot safety nets in agroforestry, with planted riparian buffers will stop much of the nitrate reaching watercourses.
A farmermanaged, agroenvironmental transformation has occurred over the past three decades in the west african sahel, enabling both land rehabilitation and agricultural intensification to support a dense and growing population. Now they walk half an hour because they can prune onfarm trees, says chris reij, senior fellow specialized in agroforestry and restoration at the research nonprofit world resources institute. As president obama traveled to ethiopia this week for meetings about security, human rights, and to visit the african union headquarters in addis ababa, most people likely conjured up images of the country from the 1980sa land ravaged by drought and famine. It is the dryland agroforestry in arid and semiarid areas, e. He supports the work of the global restoration initiative he has worked in africa since 1978. Agroforestry is one multifunctional option which can simultaneously provide food security and other important ecosystem services. The historical, environmental and socioeconomic context. Committed to advancing agroforestry as a way to enhance the nations economy as well as its agricultural landscapes, watersheds, and communities, usda has released the usda agroforestry strategic framework pdf, 562 kb, fiscal years 20192024. Millions fed, food security, sahel, zai, stone bunds, agroforestry, soil. For example, the international council for research in agroforestry icraf has worked on an agroforestry systems inventory nair. Land use change and climatesmart agriculture in the sahel.
Also, there is a belief that crops cannot grow well. Starting around 1980 during a phase of severe drought, he has successfully created an almost 40hectare forest on formerly barren and abandoned land. Chris reij, robert winterbottom, and paola agostini. To improve water availability and soil fertility in burkina fasos central plateau, farmers have sown crops in. It involves the systematic regeneration and management of trees and shrubs from tree stumps, roots and seeds.
Regreening the sahel international fund for agricultural. Presentation by dr chris reij, world ressources institute dr reij referred to a study on long term trends in agriculture. Does small irrigation boost smallholder agricultural production evidence from a small irrigation programme in niger. Utilizing these multiple crop outputs on a given acre of land has great potential to increase farm profitability, marketability, and sustainability. The historical, environmental and socioeconomic context of forests and treebased systems for food. Agroforestry af is a broad term for a series of agricultural practices that incorporates trees into farming systems with either livestock or vegetable crop production. Think of the bonn challenge 150 mln ha forest restored by 2020 or the afr100 100 mln ha in africa by 2030. African regreening update 2014 number 1, april 2014 picture 1 an agroforestry parkland in tigray on the road between abrha weatsbeha and hawzen. Its new mandate, which is to contribute towards enhanced food security and improved livelihoods is much wider than before, thus encompassing vitually all the major subject areas in agriculture and related rural sciences.
Reconciling production with protection of the environment a synopsis of research literature figure 1. Plate 4 shows agroforestry systems between dilla and bule. It is the agroforestry system where water is available in optimal quantity, e. In a world grappling with the challenges of food insecurity, climate change, landscape degradation, and rural poverty. Chris reij is a sustainable land management specialist and a senior fellow of the world resources institute in washington. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Chris reij international institute for environment and development. Sahelian farmers achieved their success by ingeniously modifying traditional agroforestry, water, and soilmanagement practices. Agroenvironmental transformation in the sahel core.
Another kind of green revolution chris reij, gary tappan and melinda smale no 914, ifpri discussion papers from. Potential contributions to food security from scaling up. Despite severe development challenges, niger is the site of successful, farmermanaged efforts to counteract the global trend in land degradation that was supported by policy change. The idea of trees being compatible with crops like sorghum, millet, and maize was. Yacouba sawadogo is known as the man who stopped the desert. Farming the desert transform desert in green africa. Aba hawi, community chairperson of abreha we atsbeha, described the sustainable land and water management that led to the restoration. Scaling up farmermanaged natural regeneration in africa to. For example modern farmers in switzerland have widely abandoned traditional agroforestry practices. No one knew for sure how much fmnr had caught on until wris chris reij had what he calls his apostle paul moment in 2004.
Six steps to success highlights the benefits of regreening and its widespread adoption in senegal, burkina faso, niger, mali, northern ethiopia and malawi, and identifies six steps to scale up regreening practices in africa and beyond. Bringing back agroforestry and proving its benefits wasnt easy, however. Farmermanaged restoration of agroforestry parklands in. Integrated landscape approaches for africas drylands. William critchley is an agronomist and chris reij a human geographer. Building on successes with regreening in the west african sahel. To improve water availability and soil fertility in burkina fasos central plateau, farmers have sown crops in planting pits and built stone contour bunds. Transformations internal newsletter of the world agroforestry centre vol 8 issue 18 24112015 in this issue paving the way for a land degradation neutral world new australian high commissioner to kenya tours icraf soilplant spectral diagnostics lab team conducts spectroscopy training in ghana. Both are affiliated to the centre for development cooperation services of the free university in amsterdam. Nov 10, 2016 professor mitiku of mekele university and chris reij of the world resources institute served as facilitators and the tours interpreters mitiku from the local tigrinya language to english, and reij from english to french.
Land rehabilitation enables sustainable intensification of agriculture and more resilient food production systems. Agroenvironmental transformation in the sahel ifpri. After decolonizafon, new forestry rules and measures were imposed and strictly. July, 2015 marked the 30th anniversary of the live aid concert for ethiopia organized by bob geldof to mobilize funding for famine. As such, it plays a critical role in advancing agroforestry to enhance the nations economy and its agricultural landscapes, watersheds, and communities. Kasetsart university, michael phillips worldfish, chris reij wri, katie reytar wri, sara scherr ecoagiculture partners, daniel vennard wri, reiner wassmann international rice research institute, philippines, robert winterbottom wri, and xiaoyuan yan institute for soil science, chinese academy of sciences.
Indigenous soil and water conservation in africa chris reij international institute for environment and development gatekeeper series no. However, trees and agroforestry practices are in a declining state in many agroecoregions. Indigenous soil and water conservation in africa chris reij introduction many parts of africa are experiencing annual population growth rates between 2 and 4%, degradation of the natural resource base, recurrent droughts and a growing dependence on food aid as well as the import of cereals to cover food deficits. According to the united nations, more than 7 billion people populated the earth in 2011 and this number is expected to go up to 9. Pdf by robert winterbottom, chris reij, dennis garrity, jerry glover, debbie hellums, mike mcgahuey, and sara scherr in 20 improving land water management.
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