Agroforestry intensification for climate

reselince and climate change adpatation in

Ethiopian farming systems

Emiru BirhaneICRAF

Sustainable intensification in Ethiopia

28-29 Januray 2014,Addis Ababa, ILRI Campus

Outline

Introduction Why intensfing Agroforestry? Agroforestry reselince role How to intensify agroforestry? Research needs

Introduction

Subsistence farming practices characterized with degraded soils, small farm sizes, and low agriculture outputs

In these areas where conditions for mono-crop agriculture are often harsh and unpredictable, trees and shrubs integrated into the agricultural system are vital assets of different products for farmers

Increase the yield and productivity of food

crops

Regenerate soil fertility which is declining in

many parts

Make farming systems more resilient to stress

Enhance Food and feed production on farms

Increase Energy supply on farm

Diversify farm enterprises

Increase the farm asset base

Carbon sequestration

  Why Intensifying agroforestry on Farmlands: What role

do/can trees play in enhancing resilience in the face of

climate change?

Agroforestry Reselince: Microclimate buffering

Garrity, ICRAF 2013

Resilience: hunger gap

0

20

40

60

80

100

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Zambia

MalawiPercentage (%) of

households facing

food shortage Harvest

season

Cropping season= ‘hunger gap‘

Tree species Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep

Avocado (exotic)

Citrus (exotic)

Parinari curatellifolia

Mango (exotic)

Uapaca kirkiana

Strychnos cocculoides

Syzygium cordatum

Annona senegalensis

Flacourtia indica

Vangueria infausta

Vitex doniana

Adansonia digitata

Ziziphus mauritiana

year-round supply

Kehlenbeck , 2013

Agroforestry Reselince: productivity Faidherbia Trial Results in Zambia

Maize yield - zero fertiliser

2008 2009 2010 ----- Tons/ha -------

With Faidherbia 4.1 5.1 5.6

Without Faidherbia 1.3 2.6 2.6

________________________________________________________________Number of trials 15 40 40

Long-term maize yield without fertilizer in a Gliricidia system

Gariity 2013

Agroforestry Reselince: productivity

Impact of fertilizer trees on maize yield under farmer management

_______________________________________

Plot management Yield (t/ha)

Maize only 1.30

Maize + fertilizer trees 3.05 ____________________________________________________________

2011 Survey of farms in six districts (Mzimba, Lilongwe, Mulanje, Salima, Thyolo and Machinga)

SpeciesVit C (mg/100 g)

Vit A (mg/100 g)

Iron (mg/100 g)

Calcium (mg/100 g)

Adansonia digitata 150-500 0.03-0.06 1.7 360

Grewia tenax N.A. N.A. 7.4 610

Tamarindus indica 3-9 0.01-0.06 0.7 260

Ziziphus mauritiana 70-165 0.07 1.0 40

Mango 28 0.04 0.1 10

Orange 51 0.07 0.2 54Sources: Freedman (1998) Famine foods. http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/FamineFoods; Fruits for the Future Series, ICUC; Fineli (http://www.fineli.fi/), etc.

Nutrient contents of selected fruits.

• Deficiency of iron and vitamins A and C in SSAfrica Fruits have a high nutritional value

Agroforestry: food

Kehlenbeck , 2013

Agroforestry: feed

Species Nutritive ParametersDM CP ADF CF %Fat P Mg

A. mellifera 52.255 11.564 17.199 16.808 5.765 0.138 0.467             

A. nubica 30.392 23.123 21.222 17.440 13.154 0.307 0.417

Nutritive Value of two of the most dominant browse species (A. melifera and A. nubica) around Aba’ala, Northern Ethiopia (Birhane et al., 2013)

Agroforestry reselince: enhanced fertility

C (%) OM (%) K (Cmol/Kg)0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

Control Maize CA Maize CA Maize-Faidherbia

Control Maize CA Maize CA Maize-Faidherbia

0

0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

0.05

0.06

0.029 0.03

0.057

% Soil N is almost double with Faidherbia

Soil C, OM and K are much higher with Faidherbia

Agroforestry reselince: Income generation

0 20 40 60 80 100

Rashad

Gubeiha

Talodi

Dilling

0 20 40 60 80 100

Rashad

Gubeiha

Talodi

Dilling

Portion of NTFP income of the total household income (%)

Female + childrenMale

• High potential for income generation from IFTs:

Example from the Nuba Mountains, Kordofan, Sudan: up to 90% of total cash income of women in the Nuba Mountains generated from collecting and selling wild fruits (often the women‘s only income source)

Contribution of NTFPs, mostly wild fruits, to household income in different areas of the Nuba Mountains (El Tahir & Gebauer 2004), Kehlenbeck , 2013

How to intensify Agroforestry in the Farming system

1. Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration of flag species

2. Introducing new systems with planting

Two basic pathways

Faidherbia

Gliricidia

Maize

Faidherbia

GliricidiaMaize

DRY SEASON

WET SEASON

Combine Fast growing and slow growing

.75m

3m

Research needs

Production data for useful trees Data on the contribution of food tree products to

• family nutrition (seasonality?)• family income generation (use of cash?)

Data on nutrient content of products from lesser known food tree speciesSocio-economic/environmental factors influencing cultivation of food trees and consumption of their products (e.g. commercialization)Data on service functions of treeValue chain for tree productsModelling tree crop interactionModelling the resilience role of trees on agricultural systemsRole of agroforestry in climate adaptation and carbon sequestrationMethods of intensification

Thank you