revitalizing african agriculture
DESCRIPTION
Presentation for the World Agroforestry Congress 2014 in New Delhi. Revitalizing African Agriculture from the Ground up.TRANSCRIPT
A c a s e s t u d y o f s o i l f e r t i l i t y ,
f e r t i l i z e r s u b s i d y , a n d a g r o f o r e s t r y
Revitalizing African agriculture from the ground up:
World Agroforestry Congress 2014, Delhi, India
Why Malawi?
Lack of access to food and cash for rural smallholders in SE Africa
Fertilizer is extremely expensive in these settings and does not treat underlying soil fertility issues
Faidherbia albida
Indigenous
Intercropped, fertilizer tree
Increases maize yields
Experimental success
The Agroforestry System
Study Goals
Should farmers implement this technology? Are the incentives right?
Question 1: Can the intercropping system be associated with higher maize yields outside of an experimental setting?
Question 2: Is this system compatible with farmer resources and goals?
Question 3: If this is a valid use of resources, how can adoption be expanded?
Data
Household survey of 390 farmers holding 497 fields
Two districts, 30 days of field work
Supported by ICRAF, Malawi Department of Forestry, NCSU
Quantitative data and open-ended questions
Question 1: higher maize yield
The Models
Maize yield (kg/ha) = f(tree, farmer, crop management,physical land characteristics)
Farmer Crop Management
Tree – Varies by Model12
Physical Land
But what does it really mean?
All tree variables are highly significant(<1%)
Magnitude of tree variables comparable or greater than other crop management practices
12-14% increase over average (1.4 tons/ha)
168.5 kg/ha for presence
206-211 kg per/ha for physical characteristic models
169 173143
97 91
0
50
100
150
200
Ma
ize
KG
per
hec
tare
Tree Presence Model
F. albida
Chemical Fertilizer
Hybrid Maize
Other Agroforestry Tree
Manure
Question 2: Compatibility
Labor Demand
Labor demanded for establishment of trees varies by method, 40 – 53 person days per hectare
Significant variation and small sample size (N=119)
Relatively minor compared to demands from maize crops, 377 person days per hectare
11 to 14% increase in labor demanded, across activities
Pruning will require 18 person days per hect per year – 5% increase in labor
Question 3: Adoption
Agroforestry Adoption Decision Criteria
Attribute Rank (of 6)
How well the systems combine with existing farm practices – Compatibility
4.9
Flexibility of the systems 4.5
The systems’ ability to provide multiple products such as food or fuelwood
3.2
Your confidence in the systems’ ability to provide the promised benefits – Reliability
3.1
Consistency of benefits each year 2.9
Financial benefits compared to cost of planting trees 2.3
• Compatibility – Same activities, timing
• Flexibility – Trees cannot be moved, but have positive impact on yield across crops, including cash crops
Recap
Yes! There is a link to higher maize yield 12-14% - Enough to feed a child for a year
Less than experimental but comparable to chemical fertilizer and other practices
Yes! It works with available resources Chemical fertilizer is extremely expensive, more than all
other inputs combined, required every single year
Better option for cash constrained by labor abundant communities, including this one and many in SE Africa
Expanding adoption F. albida intercropping system well suited based on top
decision criteria: compatibility and flexibility
World Agroforestry Congress 2014ICRAF (Oluyede Ajayi, Frank Place, Dennis Garrity, Tracy Beedy, Innocent Phiri, Maurice
Zimba), USAID, Malawi’s Department of Forestry, NCSU (Fred Cubbage, Nils Peterson, Erin Sills, Laarman Grant)
&My extraordinary survey team (Martin, Alinafe, Brenda, Allen, Philmon)
Questions?