RP-Department of Environmental Science

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Agroforestry Technologies Adopted by Smallholder Farmers In Southern Province of Rwanda
(East African Nature & Science Organization, 2019) Mukundente, Liliane; Ndunda, Ezekiel; Gathuru, Gladys
Agroforestry is an agricultural system that deliberately integrates trees, crops and animals on the same land and under the same management. Agroforestry practices have the ability to counter the increasing food insecurity and offers several outputs (e.g. enhanced crop production, money and job opportunities) to smallholder farmers hence the improvement of rural living standards. This paper focuses on the agroforestry practices adopted by smallholder farmers, challenge faced and the benefits derived from the agroforestry practices. This study was carried out in four districts in the Southern Province of Rwanda. A descriptive survey design was used in this study. The study adopted a stratified random sampling technique for questionnaire distribution. Descriptive methods of analysis were used to identify the different agroforestry technologies adopted by smallholder farmers in Rwanda. This study illustrated the different agroforestry practices adopted by farmers. The results revealed that most farmers in the Southern Province adopted boundary planting agroforestry followed by homegardens, alley cropping and scattered trees on farm. Most adopters (68%) of agroforestry planted trees around their farms. The farmers maintained that these trees are retained to provide various uses (e.g. fuel wood, staking material, constructional materials, grazing, climate regulation, soil erosion, control of wed and pest, reduction of crop failure, improving soil fertility, nutrient recycling and nitrogen fixation). Input and productivity were the common challenges faced by the farmers who adopted agroforestry practices. Most of the respondents were able to access the necessary information on the importance of agroforestry, attained knowledge for planting trees (especially in spacing and management skills) and knowledge about various species of trees and management skills. The government of Rwanda and other stakeholders should promote tree farming in the area so as to prevent deforestation and land degradation in search of firewood and timber from the community and government forests.
Nitrogen recovery by alley-cropped maize and trees from 15N-labeled tree biomass in the subhumid highlands of Kenya
(Springer-Verlag, 2000-05) Mugendi, D.N.; Nair, P. K. R.; Graetz, D. A.; Mugwe, J. N.; O'Neill, M. K.
The effectiveness of tree-leaf biomass as a source of N to crops in agroforestry systems depends on the rate at which crops can obtain N from the biomass. A study was conducted to determine the fate of 15N labeled, soil-applied biomass of two hedgerow species, Calliandra calothyrsus Meissner (calliandra) and Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit (leucaena), in the subhumid highlands of Kenya. Labeled biomass obtained from 15N fertilized trees was applied to microplots in an alley cropping field and maize planted. N uptake and recovery by maize and hedgerow trees was periodically determined over a 20-week period during the short rain (1995) and the long rain (1996) growing seasons. In maize crop from treatments that received leucaena biomass, higher N uptake and recovery were recorded than in maize from the plots that received calliandra biomass. However, N uptake and recovery were higher in calliandra tree hedges than in leucaena hedges, indicating differences in N uptake by the two tree species. The largest fraction (55–69%) of N in the applied tree biomass was left in the soil N pool, 8–13% recovered by maize, 2–3% by tree hedges, and 20–30% could not be accounted for. Some of the unaccounted for N may have been left in the wood and root portions of the tree hedges and in the bulk soil below the 20-cm depth. The study shows that only a small fraction of the N contained in the N-rich biomass that is applied to the soil is taken up by the current season's crop, suggesting that a major benefit may be in the build-up of the soil N store.
A Quantitative Appraisal of Selected Agroforestry Studies in the Sub-Saharan Africa
(Cell Press, 2022) Muthee, Kennedy; Duguma, Lalisa; Majale, Christine; Mucheru-Muna, Monicah; Wainaina, Priscilla; Minang, Peter
The multiple ecosystem services and livelihood assets development challenges facing the world, including climate change, land degradation, and high poverty levels, have necessitated cross-cutting solutions. Such includes agroforestry technologies, where trees are integrated with crop and pasture lands to yield multiple ecosystem goods and services. Though an ancient approach to land management, agroforestry faces a modern and urgent demand for expansion to counter ecosystems-livelihoods imbalances in most regions across the globe. This paper sought to synthesize the dynamics and characteristics of agroforestry technologies in sub-Saharan Africa by adopting the systematic review approach. Eighty-six (86) agroforestry studies were reviewed, analysing variables such as the dominant agroforestry technologies, production systems, types of studies, and ecosystem services generated by different agroforestry technologies. It established that majority of the agroforestry studies are multiple (undefined) in nature at 36%, have moderately changed over the years, the dominant agroforestry study type is journal articles (59%), and they are mostly scientific in nature (57%). Further, income generation was the dominant provisioning service (31%), greenhouse gas emission reduction was the main regulatory service (31%), and soil fertility management was the key support service. Tradeoffs associated with agroforestry technologies, including increased deforestation rates, tree-crops competition, increased pests and diseases, and potential food insecurity due to reduced crop production were also identified. Barriers to agroforestry such as insecure land tenure systems and inadequate research development are discussed. Pathways towards increased agroforestry technologies adoption, such as creating a conducive institutional and policy environment, as well as developing business support services for agroforestry-related goods and services were identified. The study reiterates the need for increased agroforestry technologies adoption to create the ecosystems-livelihoods balances, with sufficient measures to minimize the potential tradeoffs.
Socio-Economic and Institutional Factors Affecting Smallholders Farmers to Adopt Agroforestry Practices in Southern Province Of Rwanda
(PeerTechz Publication, 2020) Mukundente, Liliane; Ndunda, Ezekiel; Gathuru, G
This paper is mainly focused on identifying the socio economic and institutional factors infl uencing agroforestry adoption in Southern Province. Field survey was conducted during July to September, 2019 using structured questionnaire. This study was carried out in four districts in southern province of Rwanda. The number of respondents involved in the study was 650 farmers. A descriptive survey design was used in this study. For the selection of the sample, the study adopted a stratifi ed random sampling technique and simple random technique. Binary logit regression model has been used to determine the factors affecting farmers adopting agroforestry. Finally, Binary regression analysis showed no signifi cant association between the adoption of agroforestry practices and respondent’s age, gender, marital status, farming experience or income range of the respondents. On the other hand, there is a positive signifi cant association between the adoption of agroforestry practices and household size is 0.00 p-value as well as the farm size of the respondents. It is expected that farmers with larger household size are more likely to adopt agroforestry practices than farmers with smaller household size and also shows that most of the farmers who were more likely to adopt agroforestry had a bigger land acreage for planting more trees.
Soil Invertebrate Macrofauna Composition within Agroforestry and Forested Ecosystems and their Role in Litter Decomposition in Embu, Kenya
(CIAT, 2004) Mugendi, D.N.; Mwangi, M.; Kung'u, J.B.; Swift, M. J.; Albrecht, A.
Adequate food to meet the needs of an ever-increasing population is a major challenge for most developing countries, especially in the tropics. Despite this, few new technical packages capable of increasing net returns without deteriorating the environment have been developed. Crop yields in Embu, Kenya are poor due to declining soil fertility prompted by continuous cropping and application of fertilizers in non-sufficient quantities by farmers. Studies have shown that soil biota provides the means and regulates the transformation of organically bound nutrients into plantavailable forms through mineralization. An experiment was conducted to investigate soil macrofauna composition within agroforestry and forested ecosystems and their role in litter decomposition. This was anticipated to address poor crop yields in the study region. The study was conducted during the long and the short rains of the year 2000 on-station at Embu in an ongoing hedgerow intercropping experiment. Two types of Standard PVC litterbags with mesh size 7 mm and 1mm, were used. The 7 mm mesh size allowed macrofauna to enter while the 1 mm excluded the macrofauna. Two types of litter: Calliandra calothyrsus (low quality) and Leucaena leucocephala (high quality), were placed in the litterbags in duplicate in selected treatments of the Embu trials and were sampled at 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 weeks. Decomposition rate constants (k) were estimated using a non-linear module in the EXCEL spreadsheet upon fitting first order exponential equations. Results from the study depicted that different management practice and/or land use affect soil macrofauna in varied manner. Soil invertebrate macrofauna enhanced the rate of decomposition of C. calothyrsus and L. leucocephala litter.
Trade-Off Between Agroforestry and Ecosystem Services among Smallholder Farmers in Machakos County, Kenya
(East African Nature & Science Organization, 2019) Kinyili, Benjamin Mutuku; Ndunda, Ezekiel; Kitur, Esther
Agroforestry provides multiple ecosystem services. The understanding of the relationships between it and the ecosystem services can help to lessen undesired trade-offs. The aim of this study was to determine the trade-offs between agroforestry and ecosystem services among smallholder farmers in Machakos County, Kenya. This study demonstrated that smallholder farmers who had adopted agroforestry in the semi-arid areas of Machakos County achieved several ecosystem services from the practice. Ecosystem services supporting functions included nutrient recycling and soil formation which were the most important. These were followed by regulatory functions (soil erosion control, water infiltration, microclimate regulation, flood control and disease/pest control). Provision of ecosystem services such as fuelwood, fruit, nuts, poles, timber and fodder was the third most important function as perceived by the local community members while the least was cultural functions that are rarely performed within the agroforestry ecosystems. Given the low knowledge of the entire range of agroforestry ecosystem services in the area, there should be concerted effort to educate the local community members about the wide range of ecosystem services to maximize the exploitation of these services from agroforestry
Why institutional environments for agroforestry seed systems matter
(Wiley, 2016) Lillesø, J.P.B.; Harwood, C.; Derero, Abayneh; Graudal, L.; Roshetko, J.M.; Kindt, R.; Moestrup, S.; Omondi, W.O.; Holtne, N.; Mbora, A.; Breugel, P.V.; Dawson, I. K.; Jamnadass, R.; Egelyng, H.
Rethinking the logic of institutional environments aiming to facilitate agroforestry smallholders in economic development, this article compares smallholder input supply systems for crop and tree seeds in sub-Saharan Africa and reflects on two basic challenges: (1) how to develop a large number of relevant tree crops for different agroecologies, (2) how to reach smallholders in rural areas. Policy options for improving agroforestry input supply systems are discussed, whereby our article concludes with suggestions how sectoral approaches for crop seed systems can be modified to agroforestry seed-seedling systems. Biophysical differences have practical implications for how the logic of the ‘African green revolution’ would be translated into a corresponding revolution for agroforestry.

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