Analysis of Arable Farmers Agroforestry Practices in Bokkos Local Government Area, Plateau State, Nigeria

The need to increase arable crop production to keep pace with food demands for a growing population without degrading ecosystems can only be achieved through adoption of agroforestry. Agroforestry practices help to achieve food security, biodiversity, conservation and land sustainability. The 94 famers were chosen using a multistage sampling process. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Most (74%) of respondents practiced home gardening. The significant benefits derived from agroforestry were; food/fruits (97%) and soil improvement/conservation (88%). The mean adoption index was 0.27. The log-likelihood obtained from Tobit was 67.92 indicating that the independent variables significantly explained the variation in the farmer’s adoption decision. Educational level (β=0.426) and farm experience (β=0.597) were both positive and statistically significant at ρ˂0.05; farm income (β=0.568) was significant at ρ˂0.01, and extension contact (β=-0.887, ρ˂0.01) was negative and had a negative impact on agroforestry adoption. The constraints affecting the practice of agroforestry among arable farmers were; poor policies, inadequate extension services, insufficient improved tree species among others. The study recommends intensification of extension services and provision of incentives to farmers to promote agroforestry adoption to achieve increased food production and sustainable land-use systems.

Farmer social networks: The role of advice ties and organizational leadership in agroforestry adoption

With the decline in public budgets for agricultural extension support, ties between members of farmer groups are becoming more important to facilitate information transfer about agroforestry. This paper examines the role of social network ties in predicting organizational leadership in an agroforestry-based farmer group. Using social network data derived from interviews with members of farming groups based in the Ayeyarwady Delta of Myanmar, we established a positive relationship between advice-seeking ties and organizational leadership. In other words, farmers who were highly sought for agroforestry advice were more likely to be elected as leaders of the farmer group. Results show the frequency of interactions through advice-seeking ties also had a positive influence on the probability of farmers holding leadership positions. We found a core–periphery structure for the advice networks, whereby farmer leaders were overrepresented at the network core. Interestingly, general members of the farmer group were also in the core of the core-periphery structure, suggesting that engaging with farmers without leadership roles can also effectively disseminate agroforestry information to peripheral farmers. We conclude that farmer groups are valuable in agroforestry adoption and persistence and further analyses of formal leadership structures are needed to support more transparent and accountable governance.

Agroforestry practices and food security in the mount Bamboutos landscape, Western Highlands of Cameroon

This study presents agroforestry practices by farmers in Mount Bamboutos, why they adopt agroforestry practices and main constraints towards adoption as well as the relationship between agroforestry practices and household food security. A purposive sampling technique was used to administer 195 questionnaires. Data collected were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The demographic information analyzed showed that the majority of respondents were males (76%) and all were literate with a majority using fuel wood as their main source of energy. The major agroforestry practices were, planting of fodder, fertilizer, fruit and timber trees, compost manure and farm yard manure preparation. The highest year of adoption of agroforestry practices was in 2019. Most (50%) of the respondents adopted agroforestry practices for better crop yields. However, the main constraints to agroforestry adoption were lack of training, lack of seeds and much labour involved. Lack of training was the greatest constraint cited by respondents. 39% of the respondents were food secure and apart from compost manure practice that was negatively associated with food security, all the other agroforestry practices were positively associated with food security. Based on findings of this study, it is recommended that extension agents and other stakeholders should intensify efforts to educate and train more farmers on the practice and advantages of agroforestry. This will go a long way to increase adoption rate while ensuring food security.

Simulating Agroforestry Adoption in Rural Indonesia: The Potential of Trees on Farms for Livelihoods and Environment

In recent years, agroforestry has gained increasing attention as an option to simultaneously alleviate poverty, provide ecological benefits, and mitigate climate change. The present study simulates small-scale farmers’ agroforestry adoption decisions to investigate the consequences for livelihoods and the environment over time. To explore the interdependencies between agroforestry adoption, livelihoods, and the environment, an agent-based model adjusted to a case study area in rural Indonesia was implemented. Thereby, the model compares different scenarios, including a climate change scenario. The agroforestry system under investigation consists of an illipe (Shorea stenoptera) rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) mix, which are both locally valued tree species. The simulations reveal that farmers who adopt agroforestry diversify their livelihood portfolio while increasing income. Additionally, the model predicts environmental benefits: enhanced biodiversity and higher carbon sequestration in the landscape. The benefits of agroforestry for livelihoods and nature gain particular importance in the climate change scenario. The results therefore provide policy-makers and practitioners with insights into the dynamic economic and environmental advantages of promoting agroforestry.

Perceived Climate Resilience and Adoption of Cocoa Agroforestry in the Forest-Savannah Transition Zone of Ghana

Aims: Agroforestry is globally acknowledged as an essential component of climate-smart agriculture. Nevertheless, agroforestry adoption is low, and research is lacking on how farmers perceive the climate-related benefits of agroforestry and the implications of such perceptions on adoption. This paper assessed farmer perspectives on the effectiveness of agroforestry in enhancing the climate resilience of cocoa, and the extent to which such perceptions (in conjunction with socioeconomic factors) influence farmers’ decision to adopt cocoa agroforestry or otherwise. Study Design: A cross-sectional survey design involving households practicing different cocoa landuse systems (agroforestry vs. full-sun monoculture) was used. Methodology: Data were collected using structured questionnaire administered to 240 randomly selected cocoa-farming household heads. Place and Duration of Study: The study took place in 12 rural communities in the Forest-Savannah Transition Zone of Ghana from March to September 2017. Results: Findings indicated that while farmers unanimously acknowledged the effectiveness of cocoa agroforestry in enhancing resilience to excessive dry season temperatures, their perceptions in terms of resilience to drought differed, and were largely shaped by the kind of shade trees integrated. Overall, the majority of household heads perceived agroforestry to be the most beneficial strategy for enhancing the climate resilience of farmers. This perception significantly influenced households’ decision to adopt cocoa agroforestry, in conjunction with socioeconomic factors such as social network, sex of the household head, sex distribution of the household, and off-farm income. Conclusion: Social network and farmers’ perception of the effectiveness of agroforestry in enhancing climate resilience are the key determinants of cocoa agroforestry adoption in the FSTZ of Ghana. Farmers who perceive agroforestry to be the most beneficial climate-resilient strategy in agriculture are more likely to adopt cocoa agroforestry. Social network can be used to enhance cocoa agroforestry adoption by serving as an effective communication channel for spreading information about the climate-related benefits of shade trees among farmers.

ASSESSMENT OF AGROFORESTRY ADOPTION AMONG THE SUBSISTENCE FARMERS IN TSAFE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ZAMFARA STATE, NIGERIA

The study was designed to determine what model(s) is (are) practiced, to determine the tree species preferred by people for agroforestry, to identify the problems being encountered by farmers. The study revealed that, adaptation of Agroforestry practice in Tsafe Local Government is up to 88.75% and only11.25% are not into the system. Also by looking into the determined rate of Agroforestry model in the study area, Agrosilvicultural is highest Agroforestry model system which constituted 76.8%, silvopastoral system (4.9%), Agrosilvopastoral system (16.2%) and others have the minimum of 2.1%. 64.8% of respondents intercropped their arable crops with fruit bearing tree. Maize and rice are the major food crops grown in the study area. The study area is faced with inadequate funds (31.0%), poor government intervention (38.0%) and lack of awareness and education (20.4%). An agroforestry system can be considered as a type of land use that is specific to a locality and described according to its biological composition and arrangement, level of technical management as social-economic features. It is recommended that government should provide Agroforestry regulatory policies, means of enlightenments, incentives and supports to improve the practice.

Who Adopts Agroforestry in a Subsistence Economy?—Lessons from the Terai of Nepal

Agroforestry is recognized as a sustainable land use practice. However, the uptake of such a promising land use practice is slow. Through this research, carried out in a Terai district of Nepal, we thoroughly examine what influences farmers’ choice of agroforestry adoption and what discourages the adoption. For this, a total of 288 households were surveyed using a structured questionnaire. Two agroforestry practices were compared with conventional agriculture with the help of the Multinomial Logistic Regression (MNL) model. The likelihood of adoption was found to be influenced by gender: the male-headed households were more likely to adopt the tree-based farming practice. Having a source of off-farm income was positively associated with the adoption decision of farmers. Area of farmland was found as the major constraint to agroforestry adoption for smallholder farmers. Some other variables that affected positively included livestock herd size, provision of extension service, home-to- forest distance, farmers’ group membership and awareness of farmers about environmental benefits of agroforestry. Irrigation was another adoption constraint that the study area farmers were faced with. The households with a means of transport and with a larger family (household) size were found to be reluctant regarding agroforestry adoption. A collective farming practice could be a strategy to engage the smallholder farmers in agroforestry.

Socio-economic Factors Affecting Adoption of Agroforestry Practices in Forest Adjacent Communities: The Case of Ndabibi Location, Nakuru County, Kenya

Agroforestry greatly helps to improve production by creating the right conditions for other components of the production system and also creates other income streams and benefits. Agroforestry also creates an alternative source of forest derived products and thus help reduce forest destruction. The development of agroforestry in Africa has not been very successful due to poor understanding of the underlying socio-economic factors underpinning the adoption in specific local contexts, including adjacent forest communities. This hinders proper decision making hence ineffective management of agroforestry practices. This is especially the case for Ndabibi Location an area marked by low farm production including degradation of the adjacent Eburru Forest. This study, therefore, aimed to analyze the socio-economic factors affecting agroforestry adoption in Ndabibi Location, a forest adjacent community. This study used a descriptive study design and systematic sampling design. The study used primary and secondary data where primary data was collected using a household questionnaire survey, focus group discussions, key informant interviews and observations. The study found socio-economic factors either have positive or negative relationships with agroforestry adoption. The factors that have a positive relationship with agroforestry practice include age, household size, formal education level, contact with extension services, membership to community-based associations and income levels. Gender, land size and forest dependency were found to have a negative relationship with the adoption of agroforestry practice. Understanding of the socio-economic factors underlying and thus affecting adoption of agroforestry adoption in Ndabibi Location will help communities, policymakers and practitioners to make the right planning and management decisions towards the promotion of agroforestry practice in forest adjacent communities. This shall increase the production, livelihoods and income sources diversification hence leading to the sustainable management of forest ecosystems.