Category: Theme 1: Smallholder production systems and markets

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  • Impact story: Agroforestry and drip irrigation to mitigate long dry seasons in Sulawesi

Impact story: Agroforestry and drip irrigation to mitigate long dry seasons in Sulawesi

Mr Didi’s garden has been using drip irrigation with bamboo for keeping the seeds watered. Photo: World Agroforestry Centre/Amy Lumban Gaol
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Drip irrigation system to water seeds at the bottom of the bamboo tube with protective covering. Photo: World Agroforestry Centre/Amy Lumban Gaol
Drip irrigation system to water seeds at the bottom of the bamboo tube with protective covering. Photo: World Agroforestry Centre/Amy Lumban Gaol

Farmers in Indonesia are more optimistic about surviving the increasingly long dry seasons because the World Agroforestry Centre is improving their understanding of agroforestry and drip irrigation.

By Amy Lumban Gaol, originally published at Agroforestry World Blog

Until recently, farmers in Konawe Selatan, Kendari District, Southeast Sulawesi Province, Indonesia thought that agroforestry was to mix trees and crops together in the home garden with little or no planning or management. The results were not optimal: little or no yields and failed plantings.

The farmers were unaware that there were techniques that could be followed in mixing crops, for example, calculating the specific distance between particular species of tree, the suitability of plants for combination and where to plant them in relation to one another.

The situation became more challenging because of a prolonged dry season that caused the failure of many crops, leading farmers to experience difficult times. Their incomes were low and they had very little water.

With temperatures over 37 degrees Celsius and no rain for almost half a year, many crops died. And if the farmers were able to water their crops, the water would evaporate in minutes, leaving the plots as if they hadn’t been watered for months.

To help farmers meet these challenges, the Agroforestry and Forestry in Sulawesi (AgFor) project team has been working to improve farmers’ knowledge of drip irrigation and agroforestry techniques. AgFor is funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, Canada and the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry.

After two years of operation in Kolaka Timur and Konawe in Southeast Sulawesi, AgFor started in Konawe Selatan and Kota Kendari in 2014. Konawe Selatan has two sub-districts, Lalembuu and Wolasi, in which seven villages participate actively in AgFor.

“Farmers in my village didn’t know much about good agroforestry practice until last year,” said Mr Maskuri, leader of the farmers’ group in Unupe Village in Konawe Selatan.

Mr Didi’s garden has been using drip irrigation with bamboo for keeping the seeds watered. Photo: World Agroforestry Centre/Amy Lumban Gaol
Mr Didi’s garden has been using drip irrigation with bamboo for keeping the seeds watered. Photo: World Agroforestry Centre/Amy Lumban Gaol

“All we knew about growing a plant was to put it in the ground and hope it would live so we could make a living out of it. And, of course, the plants died! We tried again, did the same things and kept hoping that this time the outcome would be different. I did that for years since I moved here in 2008 but it was only in 2014 that I finally managed to successfully plant cocoa for the first time, after I got help from the AgFor team. Now, our farmers’ group plans to implement agroforestry in all our gardens, such as combining rubber and orange, cocoa and coconut or jackfruit and pepper.”

Until now, the number of farmers involved in Konawe Selatan has continuously been growing. In the meantime, 279 farmers, 84 of whom are women, eagerly attend all training sessions and workshops on nurseries, seedlings, agroforestry management and commodity crops.

“Watering my plants using bamboo drip irrigation is a new thing for me,” said Mr Didi, also from Unupe. “I learned this method at a demonstration site with the AgFor team early last year. This is very valuable knowledge since we are experiencing a prolonged dry season. Every day the temperature gets really high and in less than five minutes the heat dries any plants or ground I watered.”

Mrs Asmarani works in her seed nursery, that has recently been awarded with a certificate of acknowledgement by the local government. Photo: World Agroforestry Centre/Amy Lumban Gaol
Mrs Asmarani works in her seed nursery, that has recently been awarded with a certificate of acknowledgement by the local government. Photo: World Agroforestry Centre/Amy Lumban Gaol

Drip irrigation is not something entirely new for some parts of the community of Konawe Selatan. Some farmers had used plastic bottles as water regulators in the past but with very hot weather the water inside is heated to extreme temperatures, exacerbating rather than alleviating the situation.

AgFor staff provided technical assistance to farmers, such as choosing the right kind of bamboo, preparing the bamboo, demonstrating installation and ensuring that the water reaches the desired location.

“I am so grateful for this new knowledge of drip irrigation,” said Mrs Sitti Asmarani, leader of the Mepokoaso forest farmers’ group in Kendari, “as it is very important for me to have these seeds survive through the dry season. It is now quite clear to me that it requires specific knowledge to implement agroforestry and integrate plants in my garden.”

Her group had recently received formal recognition from the Governor of Southeast Sulawesi for having the best nursery, including availability of propagators and effective administration.

“The award has brought us closer to our dream: to be the best seed producers in the province, particularly in our district, Kota Kendari,” she said.

The Mepokoaso group has produced more than 6000 high-quality seeds, such as durian, palm, pepper, local teak, white teak, clove, cashew, rambutan, cocoa, mango and nutmeg. The AgFor team, which has provided consistent support, hopes that the achievements of the Mepokoaso group will provide motivation to other forest farmers’ groups to further develop their gardens.

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  • FTA event coverage: Highlights from the 2016 Asia-Pacific Rainforest Summit

FTA event coverage: Highlights from the 2016 Asia-Pacific Rainforest Summit

15 August, 2016
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By Leona Liu, originally published at CIFOR’s Forests News

The Summit’s 300+ participants brought perspectives from across geographic and sectoral boundaries to discuss ways toward a more integrated approach to forests, people and the region.

Global momentum is building to sustainably manage forests and landscapes, as a key factor for mitigating climate change and promoting development.

The Asia-Pacific, a dynamic region with rich natural assets, will be a crucial focus of this movement going forward. Rainforests in the Asia-Pacific account for 26 percent of the region’s land area, and support the livelihoods of some 450 million people.

Building on global commitments under the Paris Agreement and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the 2016 Asia-Pacific Rainforest Summit, brought together stakeholders from government, business, civil society and the research community to catalyze practical action on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and achieving sustainable development in the region.

The Summit, held from 3-5 August in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam, was hosted by the Government of Brunei Darussalam and supported by the Australian Government.

In the video below, event participants including Peter Holmgren, Director General of CIFOR; Josh Frydenberg, Australia’s Minister for the Environment and Energy; and Dato Ali Apong, Brunei’s Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism, discuss the importance of integration- both across the region and between the private and public sectors – to achieve impact.

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  • Community forestry and forest stewardship

Community forestry and forest stewardship

12 August, 2016
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  • Triple win from efficient cook-stoves and firewood from agroforestry

Triple win from efficient cook-stoves and firewood from agroforestry

Firewood from Grevilliea prunnings drying in a shed. Photo by James Kinyua/World Agroforestry Centre
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Open fire three-stone cook stove. Photo: Mary Njenga/ World Agroforestry Centre
Open fire three-stone cook stove. Photo: Mary Njenga/World Agroforestry Centre

By Susan Onyango, originally posted at ICRAF’s Agroforestry World Blog

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), about 2.5 billion people in the world, mostly in developing countries, depend on biomass energy for cooking and heating. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, over 90% of the population rely on wood fuel, particularly charcoal and firewood, for their cooking energy needs. Firewood for domestic use is collected from both on-farm and off-farm sources.

The commonly used traditional open-fire three-stone cook stoves consume large amounts of firewood and create indoor air pollution. Smoke in the kitchen is a major concern to those that lack access to clean cooking facilities. According to the World Health Organization, over 4 million people die annually from illnesses attributable to indoor pollution from cooking with solid fuels such as firewood and charcoal. Children and women are particularly vulnerable to this silent killer.

Cecily Muthoni is smallholder farmer in Embu, on the slopes of Mount Kenya about 120 kilometres north east of the country’s capital, Nairobi. On her one-acre farm, she grows cassava, beans, maize, Irish potatoes and a range of vegetables for subsistence, alongside tea, coffee and macadamia nuts as cash crops. She also grows sugarcane, mangoes, avocados and bananas for sale and home consumption.

Muthoni has about 170 exotic and indigenous trees on her farm. She has two cows, two goats and a few poultry. Like other women in her community, she uses both a charcoal stove and the three-stone cook stove to prepare meals for her family of five. Virtually all households in Embu use firewood on three-stone cook stoves, with over 70% of the population sourcing it from trees on their own farms.

Cecily Muthoni with Grevillea prunnings from her farm. She mostly sources firewood from trees on her farm or from her neighbours’ farms. Photo: James Kinyua/World Agroforestry Centre
Cecily Muthoni with Grevillea prunings from her farm. She mostly sources firewood from trees on her farm or from her neighbours’ farms. Photo: James Kinyua/World Agroforestry Centre

She would have possibly stretched this if she used an energy efficient cook stove. When her stocks are low, she purchases firewood from her neighbours at Ksh. 100 (about USD 1) per lot of 34 kilogrammes. The same quantity of firewood costs over Kshs. 200 (about USD 2) from other sources.

Prunings from trees found on farms are a readily available and affordable source of energy for cooking. What households like Muthoni’s need are efficient cook stoves that use less wood fuel and with less smoke than conventional cook stoves.

Options for cleaner cooking solutions

A recent study by a team of scientists compared the ease of use, fuel use efficiency and gas and particle emissions of a small-scale gasifier cook stove with that of the traditional three-stone stove.

Gasifier stoves use biomass and burn fuel at low oxygen levels to produce gas that ignites at high temperatures of about 7000C resulting to reduced emissions of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and fine particulate matter. The stoves burn on firewood and crop residues such as coconut shells and husks, and maize cobs. These are converted into charcoal as a by-product and can also be used for additional cooking, or as biochar to improve the retention of nutrients and water in soil. The traditional three-stone cook stove uses larger pieces of firewood and produces a lot of smoke particularly if the wood is not properly dried.

Firewood from Grevilliea prunnings drying in a shed. Photo by James Kinyua/World Agroforestry Centre
Firewood from Grevilliea prunnings drying in a shed. Photo by James Kinyua/World Agroforestry Centre

The cooking test

The study involved cooking experiments in which five households were randomly selected to participate. The trials compared the effect of using Grevillea prunings, against maize cobs and coconut husks as types of fuel on the gasifier stove. Five-person meals were cooked between 3p.m. and 6 p.m., with five tests carried out in each household.

“We found that compared with traditional three-stone cook stoves, the gasifier cook stove saves 27 to 40% of fuel, reduce cooking time by 19 to 23% and reduced emissions by 40 to 90%,” said Mary Njenga, lead researcher for the study and scientist at the World Agroforestry Centre.

The women felt that adopting the gasifier would help cook food faster and save the amount of firewood they needed, freeing time for other activities and reducing the burden on collecting firewood. They also pointed out that the gasifier uses smaller pieces of firewood than other types of stoves, making tree pruning a good source of cooking fuel. For some, the need to cut firewood into small pieces to fit into the canister was a bit cumbersome as it required additional labour. The coconut shells and maize cobs did not require any prior preparation.

The Grevillea prunings cooked food faster than the maize cob and coconut shells while the maize cobs produced more smoke than the Grevillea prunings and the coconut shells.

“I found the gasifier stove good to cook with. It will help me cook faster and save the amount of firewood I need. This will give me more time to do other activities and reduce the burden of searching for firewood,” said Muthoni. “However, this stove does not produce as much warmth in the kitchen as the traditional three-stone cook stove does. We often sit in the kitchen during the cold season to warm ourselves.”

Benefits of the gasifier cook stove

There is an opportunity for extending use of the gasifier to address energy poverty and health risks associated with domestic biomass energy in developing countries. Use of prunings from trees on farms and reduced consumption of charcoal and firewood will save trees and encourage forest regeneration. In the long-term, this will contribute to climate change mitigation. Charcoal is a by-product of the biomass burned in the gasifier stove and can be used as fuel for use on other cook stoves.

The researchers recommend improvements to respond to women’s cooking practices to encourage the use of the gasifier stove. It is noted that a household’s commitment to saving fuel, reducing smoke in the kitchen and lessening labour for firewood collection are major considerations for the adoption of the gasifier cook stove

“The gasifier cook stove saves fuel and income spent on energy for cooking. It also produces charcoal for further cooking, for sale or use for improving the retention of nutrients and water in soil, cooks relatively fast and reduces indoor air pollution from cooking with biomass. There is need for further work to understand peoples’ cooking culture using wood fuel and other biomass and how it fits into cleaner cooking solutions for increased demand and adoption,” concluded Njenga.

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  • Building resilience and livelihoods with agroforestry in Uganda

Building resilience and livelihoods with agroforestry in Uganda

21 July, 2016
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Made by leading Ugandan documentarist Nathan Ochole, this film explains what agroforestry is and the contributions that it has made to Uganda. It starts in the highlands of Kabale, where trees on farms prevented landslides and floods, provided fruit to villagers and made their agriculture more sustainable. It then roams to the parklands of northern Uganda where Borassus palms and Shea trees provide valuable nutrition and cash earnings (particularly for women in the case of Shea) and improve the yields of the crops grown near them. It visits Kapchorwa where viewers see the use of the nitrogen-fixing shrub Calliandra as feed for dairy cows and then documents the improvements that orange trees have made to livelihoods in Namatumba.

Along the way, the film makers interview farmers as well as Dr Clement Okia, the representative of the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in Uganda, and Dr Hilary Agaba, Programme Leader Agroforestry at Uganda’s National Forestry Resources Research Institute (NaFORRI NARO).

It was produced by Cathy Watson, formerly of Tree Talk and Muvle Trust in Uganda and now Head of Programme Development at ICRAF, and by Australian AVID volunteer, Laura Keenan.

The work is related to the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry.

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  • Profits, plates and plots: the link between farmers’ diets and their farms

Profits, plates and plots: the link between farmers’ diets and their farms

Farmers examining crops in their plot in Cidanau, Indonesia. Photo: World Agroforestry Centre/Technical University of Cologne/Lina Tennhardt
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By Lina Tennhardt and Sacha Amaruzaman, originally published at ICRAF’s Agroforestry World Blog

Farmers examining crops in their plot in Cidanau, Indonesia. Photo: World Agroforestry Centre/Technical University of Cologne/Lina Tennhardt
Farmers examining crops in their plot in Cidanau, Indonesia. Photo: World Agroforestry Centre/Technical University of Cologne/Lina Tennhardt

Researchers have found that smallholders participating in a payments for ecosystem services (PES) scheme in Cidanau Watershed, Indonesia had more diverse diets than farmers who weren’t participating. Food security, however, is still an issue for the watershed so promoting agroforestry could not only increase households’ incomes but also improve their nutrition.

Cidanau Watershed in Banten province, Indonesia, is the main source of water for the industrial city of Cilegon. To maintain its water-provisioning function, Forum Komunikasi DAS Cidanau, a multi-stakeholder communication forum in the watershed, facilitated a PES scheme, wherein smallholders who voluntarily adopted sustainable agroforestry practices received annual cash payments from the companies that benefited from the water

Most farmers who joined the PES scheme in Cidanau now practise agroforestry and choose crop diversification over intensification to reduce risks from agricultural challenges, like fluctuating market prices, lack of farming knowledge and migration of the young people to cities. Generally, high agro-diversity, as is expected in such diversified farming systems, results in greater diversity of farmers’ diets and improved nutritional status. However, Banten province, including Cidanau, still reports low nutritional status of the local population. This holds even in the rural areas, where diets are commonly thought to be non-diverse and dependent on their farm produce.

A farmer in Cidanau Watershed, Indonesia in his mixed rice-and-tree agroforestry system. Photo: World Agroforestry Centre/Technical University of Cologne/Lina Tennhardt
A farmer in Cidanau Watershed, Indonesia in his mixed rice-and-tree agroforestry system. Photo: World Agroforestry Centre/Technical University of Cologne/Lina Tennhardt

It is in this context that researchers from ICRAF The World Agroforestry Centre and the Technical University of Cologne in Germany conducted a study on food, nutrition and profitability of farming systems in Cidanau Watershed. Supported by the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry, the study investigated the links between different farming systems, household dietary diversity, including smallholders’ household food consumption, and the profitability of tree- and crop-based farming systems.

Key research questions were: ‘Do agroforestry farmers who receive PES payments make different management decisions for their plots compared to those who don’t? If so, does it lead to higher monetary returns for their households? Also, do households that receive compensation have higher dietary diversity and improved nutritional status than those that are not part of the PES scheme?’

In April 2016, the researchers conducted a survey with smallholding households, both those participating and those not participating in the PES scheme. From seven villages in Cidanau, 45 farmers were interviewed for a farming profitability analysis, while 105 women, mostly wives of farmers, were interviewed regarding their household food consumption.

The preliminary results show that the crop-based farming systems in the area were predominantly rice-based, whereas tree-based systems largely grew clove and ‘melinjo’ (Gnetum gnemon), usually mixed with some ‘petai’(Parkia speciosa), durian, banana and other species. Farming systems widely vary in Cidanau, as each farmer can have different tree and crop combinations in their plots. Yields and farm gate prices of commodities also have a very wide range.

On average, farmers receiving compensation have a higher tree density on their plots. However, results also indicated that food security was still an issue throughout the watershed. More than half of all households fear not having enough food, while some go to bed hungry.

Diets throughout the watershed are quite non-diverse without taking into consideration the farming systems they employ. The researchers also found self-generated produce plays only a minor role in food consumption while bought and processed foods are highly important for households’ dietary diversity. Households that joined the PES scheme had more varied dietary patterns and higher consumption of meat and carbohydrates.

A strategy to increase household incomes and purchasing power is needed to improve people’s nutritional status in Cidanau. Increasing yields and consequently, profits by improved plot management or promotion of planting crops in the agroforest understorey could be easy and inexpensive starting points for the smallholders.

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  • Tony Simons tells EurActiv: Agroforestry is a ‘win-win’ for developing nations

Tony Simons tells EurActiv: Agroforestry is a ‘win-win’ for developing nations

Walnut trees shelter maize crops in an agroforestry project in France. Photo: AGFORWARD project/Flickr
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Walnut trees shelter maize crops in an agroforestry project in France. Photo: AGFORWARD project/Flickr
Walnut trees shelter maize crops in an agroforestry project in France.
Photo: AGFORWARD project/Flickr

Agroforestry is a “back to the future” concept, advocating a return to the origins of farming —trees and fields— rather than the modern concept of huge monocultures, says Tony Simons, Director General of the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), one of the six institutions that form the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry. In a recent interview with the specialized media platform EurActiv, Simons explained the concept of agroforestry and its benefits for the future of agriculture.

Here’s what he suggests that the European Union could do to help countries in the global South developing a more sustainable agriculture.

To boil that down to what Brussels could do, does the World Agroforestry Centre have a wish list of say three things the EU could do?

I think in terms of the mainstream commodities, oil palm, timber, cocoa, coffee, rubber, the perennial commodities – it would really good if we had some agreed performance measures of what success is.

Because there’s a lot of difficult, and emotional, things around it, eg how much of the world do we want in oilpalm? Forestry’s great, it’s renewable, you can grow it, cut it down, and use it – how much do we want in terms of bio-energy, fibre, trees?

Sending those signals that these are progressive, supportive, regulations, these are open incentives, rather than a barrier.

Because if a coffee-growing nation in Africa wants to sell processed coffee, there’s I think a 600% tariff to get into the European market – because all the roasting is done in Amsterdam and Brussels, and Geneva and London.

Read the full interview at EurActiv

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  • Panel discussion: Agroforestry helping to achieve the SDGs

Panel discussion: Agroforestry helping to achieve the SDGs

16 June, 2016
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As part of ICRAF’s Science Week 2015, held in Bogor, Indonesia, a panel discussion explored the Sustainable Development Goals as the new language in which the agroforestry experience and story has to be retold.

Panel members are drawn from ICRAF’s development, policy and research partners in Indonesia and use the interactions in the Indonesian context to appreciate how such issues, themes, and actions may play out in any country or regional context, given their specificities.

Questions addressed include:

i) How do you see agroforestry as part of the sustainable development debate? Does the articulation of the interlinks between specific SDGs and agroforestry resonate with you, your organization and with the challenges and potential in Indonesia?

ii) From your perspective, what should ICRAF and the community of interests and practice in agroforestry focus on? What are some of the biggest ideas, issues and critical uncertainties that we should be working on?

iii) What advice would you have for the community of interest and practice on how to be more strategic and effective in getting these messages across?

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  • Developing livelihoods for farmers in Northwest Vietnam

Developing livelihoods for farmers in Northwest Vietnam

09 June, 2016
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An interview with Delia Catacutan, Country Representative of the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in Vietnam, on national television. She talks about Agroforestry for the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Northwest Vietnam” or AFLI, a pro-poor project on improving the livelihood of upland farmers through researched integration of trees and crops on their sloping lands.

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  • Piloting gender-responsive research tool 5Capitals-G in three countries

Piloting gender-responsive research tool 5Capitals-G in three countries

Conducting interviews according to 5Capitals-G training. Photo: Bioversity International
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Adapted from Bioversity International

Gathering Kokum. Photo: Eva Hermanowicz/Bioversity International
Gathering Kokum in India. Photo: Eva Hermanowicz/Bioversity International

A new tool to assess poverty in a gender-responsive way is set to prove its value in a pilot phase, starting mid-2016 in India, Peru and Guatemala. To prepare for the launch of the methodology called 5Capitals-G, field researchers from three parts of India were trained in a workshop in April. The training was co-funded by the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry.

Over the past decade, value chain development (VCD) involving smallholders has become more and more important for actors who want to reduce rural poverty. Donors, governments and private sector have invested millions of dollars in value chain development, but fairly little is known to what extent such initiatives effectively reduce poverty. This is partially due to the fact that appropriate methodologies and tools for assessing the impacts of value chain development on poverty are not readily available.

Researchers from the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Bioversity International, CATIE and multiple partners around the globe addressed this gap by developing the learning tool 5Capitals. It uses an asset-based approach for assessing the poverty impacts of value chain development at the level of both smallholder households and the enterprises that link these farmers with processors and buyers downstream the value chain. The data will be obtained through, for example, key informant interviews, household surveys and analysis of secondary information.

To take into consideration gender in this methodology, Bioversity International and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) are developing 5Capitals-G, which will be piloted mid-2016 in India, Guatemala and Peru.

5Capitals-G assessment methodology.
5Capitals assessment methodology

5Capitals-G looks at the poverty levels of both smallholder households and enterprises, collecting data from both women and men. Researchers assess household and business assets, as described in this table from the 5Capitals handbook.

The training was held in Karnataka, where students from the College of Forestry in Sirsi will be testing the 5Capitals-G tool to study the value chains of three forest fruit species: Garcinia indica (kokum), Mangifera indica (mango), and Garcinia gummi-gutta (brindleberry).

The workshop laid out the conceptual foundation of an asset-based approach to value chain development and the importance of applying a gender lens to identify the access to and control over assets. Access and control differ between women and men.

The participants pre-tested the different elements of the tool for final refinement, visiting the farmers’ cooperative society Kadamba in Sirsi, which has more than 2,000 members from across Karnataka. For many of the participating students, this was a first experience in conducting key informant, household and enterprise interviews.

They interviewed the CEO and several female and male employees and learned that the cooperative provides diverse income-earning opportunities by purchasing close to 30 agricultural and forest products cultivated or collected by their members. One of the products the cooperative buys is kokum, which they process into fresh juices and powered juice crystals.

Leaders of three Village Forest Committees explained how they manage sustainability issues linked with the collection and commercialization of forest products.

For the household assessments, participants asked women and men smallholders in their homes to understand their experiences with marketing kokum and the ways their involvement in the kokum value chain ties in with the many other activities they pursue to make a living.

Conducting interviews according to 5Capitals-G training. Photo: Bioversity International
Conducting interviews according to 5Capitals-G training. Photo: Bioversity International

Participants grouped into mixed teams of men and women interviewers to first interview the male and female households jointly. Then the women interviewers continued with the female respondents and the male interviewers with the male respondents to appreciate differences in the perspectives and realities of women and men. Some of them were surprised to learn how a man and a woman of the same household may differ in their perception of who makes decisions on what.

The main takeaways from the workshop were:

  • It is critical to account for diverse and even conflicting views and needs of women and men in both the households and smallholder enterprises.
  • The design and monitoring of value chain interventions requires specific engagement with men and women to ensure that both benefit form value chain development in an equitable way.

Shambhavi Priyam, a young researcher working with Action for Social Advancement in Madhya Pradesh, reflected that “it was amazing to see the nitty-gritties which have to be considered when designing a tool with gender consideration. There is no ‘one size fits all’ system for social research”.

The introduction of young researchers in India and elsewhere to the concepts of gender-responsive research in relation to value chain development will allow them to increase the depth of their work and their capacity to develop gender-equitable solutions for eliminating poverty.

This blog draws on the experience of

  • Dietmar Stoian, Principal Scientist, Value Chains and Private Sector Engagement,
  • Gennifer Meldrum, Research Fellow, Nutrition and Marketing Diversity
  • Marlène Elias, Gender Specialist, Conservation and Management of Forest Genetic Resources

The training was implemented as part of the project ‘Innovations in Ecosystem Management and Conservation (IEMaC)’ with support from the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions and Markets (PIM). The IEMaC project is funded by the InFoRM (Innovations in Forest Resource Management) program of USAID, which aims to reduce forest degradation in India, with co-funding from the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA). Participants in the workshop also included partners of the project ‘Linking agrobiodiversity value chains, climate adaptation and nutrition: Empowering the poor to manage risk’ that is supported by IFAD, the European Union and the CGIAR Research Program of Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) promoting value chain development of minor millets.

 

 

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  • Allanblackia: A promising cash crop

Allanblackia: A promising cash crop

03 June, 2016
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By World Agroforestry Centre

Allanblackia is a multipurpose indigenous fruit tree species to 40 metres high, commonly found in parts of West, Central and East Africa and could be used in agroforestry systems with both environmental and economic benefits. It grows primarily in tropical rain-forests and farmland areas.

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  • "Until our island is agroforested" - How farmers from Sulawesi inspired their colleagues in Sumba

“Until our island is agroforested” – How farmers from Sulawesi inspired their colleagues in Sumba

Looking at a restored forest. Photo: Rob Finlayson/ICRAF
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Looking at a restored forest. Photo: Rob Finlayson/ICRAF
Looking at a restored forest. Photo: Rob Finlayson/ICRAF

Originally published at Agroforestry World Blog

A group of farmers from the dry Indonesian island of Sumba visited neighbouring Sulawesi island in March 2016 to learn from the success of farmers involved in a long-running project led by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF). After a week of visits to farmers practising a range of techniques, the Sumbanese returned home full of inspiration, new skills and knowledge. Rob Finlayson talked to the farmers and found out what drives them.

Sumba has one of the harshest environments for farming of anywhere in Southeast Asia. Farmers face enormous challenges: little rain, rocky and sparse soil, freely grazing livestock and not many people with the right farming skills.

To help build the motivation, skills and resilience of Sumba’s farmers, the World Agroforestry Centre has been providing technical support to the Indonesia Regional Economic Development (IRED) project, which is led by Wahana Visi Indonesia (WVI) with support from the Australian Government. As part of their support, the Centre’s team in Sumba took seven leading farmers from seven villages in eastern Sumba to visit farmers in southern Sulawesi.

The province of South Sulawesi has for the last five years been one of the sites of a major project led by the World Agroforestry Centre and has many examples of successful farmers who have benefited. The Bantaeng district team of the Agroforestry and Forestry in Sulawesi (AgFor) project—which is supported by Global Affairs Canada and the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry—welcomed the visitors from Sumba and took them to learn from farmers who had implemented a number of different techniques to improve their incomes and the environment.

Thanks to their agroforestry techniques, the Sulawesi farmers again have enough water and produce to serve their visitors tea. Photo: Rob Finlayson/ICRAF
Thanks to their agroforestry techniques, the Sulawesi farmers again have enough water and produce to serve their visitors tea. Photo: Rob Finlayson/ICRAF

For example, on the second day of the trip, at Goggolo Village, Tompobulu Sub-district in the district of Gowa, the visitors were surprised to be welcomed into the village head’s home and treated to large glasses of a freshly-made turmeric herbal drink and peanut-and-palm-sugar snacks, both of which were produced from the village’s thriving agroforests. However, such hospitality was not possible in the past, explained Mulyani, the village’s head.

“Five years ago, we had a shortage of water, low yields from our clove trees and other crops and often experienced the death of many seedlings,” he told the visitors. “We have very little rain and the groundwater is 5 metres down through solid rock. But after we learned from AgFor about how to better manage our agroforests, our water supply has actually increased and our farms are more productive.”

For the farmers from Sumba, these were enlightening words. They could see and taste the results of the village’s commitment to putting to use the knowledge they gained.

“I have a lot of empathy with the water and other problems here,” said Tawuru May Njaha from Wunga Village in Sumba. “At home, we can’t host visitors as generously as this because we don’t have enough to eat ourselves. I’ve already learned so much from this trip that I want to apply as soon as I return.”

Another source of inspiration was found in a restored forest in Bonto Budung Village. Twenty years ago, what is now forest was barren land and the village was also experiencing water shortages and poor harvests of their trees and annual crops.

Bangu Kahi Nona (r) discussing grafting at Campaga. Photo: Rob Finlayson/ICRAF
Bangu Kahi Nona (r) discussing grafting at Campaga. Photo: Rob Finlayson/ICRAF

But thanks to the leadership of Haning, who was a resident, farmer and local government official, along with the hard work of all the residents and the support of the government, 10 hectares have now been fully restored and are home to a variety of trees that provide many benefits for the community as well as visitors. Springs, which had dried up after deforestation, again have water; the village’s water supply is now plentiful and assured; and agroforests have been planted around the restored forest, acting as buffer, habitat and sources of income, food and materials.

Haning was acknowledged in 1999 for his leadership by the president of Indonesia’s prestigious Kalpataru Award for the Environment.

“I’ve learned today that it’s possible to bring back water by planting trees over many years,” exclaimed Yulius Ndakajawal of Kadahang Village. “I am going to work hard to replicate this success in Sumba by starting small, planting trees around springs to let more water flow.”

“Near the church in my village is a small spring,” echoed Melki, a young farmer from Kalamba Village. ‘”Whichever species of tree is already growing there, I will plant more of them and then expand the planting to make a protective agroforest.”

In Campaga Village, the visitors learned firsthand how to improve the productivity of fruit trees through various grafting techniques. The young farmers of Campaga also told the story behind their success.

“We started with a lot of farmers attending the training sessions run by AgFor,” said Supriadi. “But many soon dropped out, leaving only a few of us. We persevered, built our own tree nursery and produced high-quality seedlings through what we learned from AgFor. The success of these seedlings on our own farms attracted our neighbours, who bought seedlings from us. The government agricultural agency came and saw what we were doing and contracted us to produce seedlings for their programs. They also recommended us to farmers as reliable suppliers of high-quality seedlings. Seeing our success, the farmers who had dropped out returned to the group and training sessions and now we are all flourishing.”

The visitors from Sumba also witnessed vegetables grown in rocky soil with limited water, talked with female farmers who also ran a successful nursery business, with male farmers who had converted their monocultural maize fields to agroforests and heard how a teacher in one village had used his private radio station to promote agroforestry. This latter initiative was complemented by AgFor’s radio programs that were broadcast throughout the province.

“I have been very keen to learn what farmers here grow and carry that knowledge home and share it with others,” said Lazarus Lamboru Ndapatamu of Praibakul Village.

And that is just what they did. Njaha, for example, now has a vegetable garden she grew from seeds using techniques learned from the farmers of Sulawesi and has begun planting fruit trees amidst her maize and peanut crops.

Ndakajawal has started a tree nursery with his farmers’ group and a home vegetable garden from which he is already harvesting chillies and leafy greens. Bangu Kahi Nona of Mbatapuhu Village has inspired the farmers there to start fencing land from livestock and planting in the enclosed areas the tree seedlings they are producing in the nursery she also urged them to build.

“I want to see Sumba covered in trees again,” she said. “We will create fenced areas on unused land and near our homes and then spread them little by little until our island is agroforested.”

So that’s apparently what farmers can learn from others who have overcome similar challenges: inspiration, motivation, skills and knowledge that they use to transform their livelihoods and environment for their own benefit and, ultimately, that of all of us.

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  • Impact story: Sulawesi provinces promise to stick with agroforestry

Impact story: Sulawesi provinces promise to stick with agroforestry

Farmer group training: The AgFor project in, Sulawesi, Indonesia, is recognized as one of the most successful partnerships of FTA. Photo: Enggar Paramita/ICRAF
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Farmer group training by AgFor, Sulawesi. Photo: Enggar Paramita/ICRAF
Farmer group training by AgFor, Sulawesi. Photo: Enggar Paramita/ICRAF

After four years, the project Agroforestry and Forestry in Sulawesi: Linking Knowledge to Action (AgFor), funded by Global Affairs Canada and the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry, seems to have made quite the impression because government representatives have agreed to sustain the work of AgFor beyond its end.

Entering its last year of implementation, the AgFor project held its last stakeholder meeting in April in Makassar, bringing together more than 70 government representatives from village, sub-district, district and provincial levels of South and Southeast Sulawesi, local NGOs, media, farmers and AgFor team members. They discussed exit strategies and focused how to hand over the project to the provincial governments and local organizations. Amy Lumban Gaol collected key quotes from the meeting.

“Today, we are going to present to you the project’s achievements and discuss the activities of the next eight months until December 2016. At the moment, your role as AgFor’s stakeholders is far more important than the team itself as the exit strategy should not come from AgFor.”

James Roshetko, AgFor senior team leader

“Agroforestry and forestry are related to many sectors: agriculture, fisheries, irrigation and livestock. If all of these sectors collaborate well, achieving the sustainable development goals is closer.”

Syamsu Alam, head of district development planning board, Bantaeng

“We have been greatly helped by AgFor’s presence in our district, especially with the extensionists who reached farmers in isolated and remote areas. If AgFor could be extended, we would be happy to include it in our district medium-term development work plan.”

Putri, representative of the district development planning board, Bulukumba

Photo: World Agroforestry Centre/Mulus Surgana
Photo: World Agroforestry Centre/Mulus Surgana

“I now have a joint cooperation with the Department of Agriculture and the State Agency for Research and Technology for high-quality seeds I am able to produce after a few training sessions with AgFor. Through the extension and executive board of agriculture, fisheries and forestry agency, I received money to produce taro seedlings, which will be purchased and developed by the government into an export commodity. Knowledge of agroforestry has proven to be really useful.”

Israk, a female farmer from Kayu Loe Village in Bantaeng, South Sulawesi

“AgFor just came to our district in 2014 and it is highly appreciated. If AgFor can work longer, it would be helpful for us to learn how to establish protection forests in Bangkala sub-district. We plan to replicate AgFor’s activities in Ujungbulu Village in the southern part of the district by developing a working group trained by AgFor.”

Alfian, district development planning board, Jeneponto

“AgFor should function as a trigger to simply start the mechanism and build a new system. With its restrictions and limited sources of budget and time, AgFor can’t and won’t stay forever. But we have the goodwill of the governments here to keep improving agroforestry-based incomes for smallholders. This is a very important thing to include in the provincial work plans.

Furthermore, sharing knowledge will not stop once AgFor leaves Sulawesi because all publication materials are available online and can be downloaded at anytime for free from the ICRAF website.”

Hari Basuki, representative of Global Affairs Canada

And last, but not least, Idarwati of Southeast Sulawesi and A. Misbawati Wawo of South Sulawesi appreciated the knowledge sharing of the project team through training, workshops and farmers’ field schools and recommended the project team to share all publications to district libraries in addition to the provision of links.

 

 

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  • Agroforests expanding across landscapes in Northwest Viet Nam

Agroforests expanding across landscapes in Northwest Viet Nam

Monocultural cropping and degraded land. Photo: Robert Finlayson/World Agroforestry Centre
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Originally published at Agroforestry World Blog

Model agroforestry landscape in Son La Province. Photo: World Agroforestry Centre
Model agroforestry landscape in Son La Province. Photo: World Agroforestry Centre

After five years, the proven benefits of agroforestry have inspired farmers to expand from plots to entire landscapes. Nguyen Anh Thu and Tran Ha My write about the benefits of a project under the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry that is supported by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.

A project in the harsh environment of Northwest Viet Nam, led by the World Agroforestry Centre, set out in 2011 to find solutions to land degradation and poverty among smallholders. It started on a small scale with experimental agroforestry systems on individual farmers’ land. But as the benefits of the project began to be realized with tangible impact on income and land degradation, the methods of the project and its agroforests are now being expanded to entire landscapes.

The north-western region of Viet Nam is plagued with hardship. Deforestation and forest degradation have left the steeply sloping hills vulnerable to serious soil erosion. Much of the area’s biodiversity has been wiped out.

The populations living in these uplands, largely ethnic minority groups, suffer from the highest rates of poverty in the country. While many remain subsistence farmers, dependent on the land for their livelihoods, years of monocultural cultivation of maize have exacerbated degradation of their land, leading to further soil and water loss and nutrient depletion. Yields have declined, lowering farmers’ already meagre incomes. Harsh weather worsens these conditions, in some cases causing loss of crops in the monocultural systems that have little protection from the elements. All this leaves farmers with few alternatives.

Monocultural cropping and degraded land. Photo: Robert Finlayson/World Agroforestry Centre
Monocultural cropping and degraded land. Photo: Robert Finlayson/World Agroforestry Centre

Recognizing that agroforestry could alleviate these issues and benefit both farmers and the environment in many ways, the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) began the Agroforestry for Livelihoods of Smallholder Farmers in Northwest Viet Nam (AFLI) project in 2011. It is managed in partnership with local governments in the region’s provinces, and supported by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research and the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry.

The initial phase of the project established agroforestry experimental plots on land volunteered by smallholders. Ten different systems were tested, all of which intercropped maize with several species of fruit trees and fodder grasses. Over the course of the past five years, a total of 71 of these ‘volunteer farmers’ have been intensively trained in agroforestry techniques, ranging from establishing nurseries and preparing seedlings through grafting and marcotting techniques to design of agroforestry systems. Even though the trees are still in early stages of development after five years, the experiments are already producing environmental benefits and economic gain for the smallholders.

Son La province, Viet Nam. Google Maps
Son La province, Viet Nam. Google Maps

Following this initial success in Son La Province, the project is now expanding. ICRAF took smallholders from Son La who were not involved in the experiments to visit the AFLI sites. After witnessing the benefits of agroforestry for themselves, over 30 households voluntarily came forward to participate in AFLI’s next phase.

Together with these households and the government’s agricultural advisory centres, ICRAF has established a 50 hectare model landscape in Mai Son, Son La. Approximately 50,000 metres of forage grass have been planted along contour lines on sloping land using a buffalo-led technique taught by experts from ICRAF in the Philippines. Across the landscape, 22,000 trees of different fruit varieties—including longan, mango, plum, pomelo and lime—are being planted. AFLI is also replicating this landscape model on 50 hectares in Tram Tau, Yen Bai Province.

These successes are based on the initial experimental plots on farmers’ land, which tested systems such as one that mixed late-fruiting longan trees with maize and forage grass. This system proved it was able to maintain maize yields compared to monocultural practices while also producing forage grass for use on farms or for sale as livestock feed.

Late-fruiting longan with maize and forage grass system in Yen Bai Province. Photo: La Nguyen/World Agroforestry Centre
Late-fruiting longan with maize and forage grass system in Yen Bai Province. Photo: La Nguyen/World Agroforestry Centre

One smallholder in the experiment found that with the additional forage grass he was able to increase his livestock from just one buffalo to three in a few years. The longan trees are expected to begin fruiting in their fourth year and bring in considerable income. Very importantly, the experimental system has already reduced soil erosion by 40–45% compared to monocultural maize cultivation.

In addition to such on-farm experiments, group nurseries were established to provide seedlings for the experimental plots and ICRAF researchers trained farmers in techniques such as grafting and marcotting, a plant-propagation technique. Now the farmers are successfully managing the nurseries themselves. Advisory material on other management techniques, such as top-working and pruning was also published.

While the positive effects of the AFLI project were clear to farmers their positive effects were also noticed by local authorities. In witnessing the real impact agroforestry has had on both smallholders’ livelihoods and the environment, the People’s Council of Yen Bai incorporated the scientific innovations into policies for sustainable cultivation practices on sloping land in poor areas. Incentives include a subsidy of VND 1 million per hectare for farmers to grow grass strips to prevent soil erosion, which will also increase maize yields and provide feed for livestock, and a subsidy of VND 6 million for every hectare of ‘son tra’ (Docynia indica) trees planted in Tram Tau and Mu Cang Chai districts.

The heavily degraded land and poverty of the region may soon be things of the past thanks three key factors: the willingness of smallholders to take the risk of testing new agroforestry systems, the support of the local governments and the foresight of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research in understanding the benefits of trees on farms that have been proven by the World Agroforestry Centre.

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  • Switching swidden to agroforestry – a small intervention with big potential in West Java

Switching swidden to agroforestry – a small intervention with big potential in West Java

Aerial view of the landscape around Halimun Salak National Park, West Java, Indonesia. Photo: Kate Evans/CIFOR
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Aerial view of the landscape around Halimun Salak National Park, West Java, Indonesia. Photo: Kate Evans/CIFOR
Aerial view of the landscape around Halimun Salak National Park, West Java, Indonesia. Photo: Kate Evans/CIFOR

Adapted from CIFOR’s Forests News

Research on agroforestry is a big part of the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA). A new FTA study shows that by converting to agroforestry, farmers in Indonesia could reap major environmental, economic and social benefits. But many are not familiar with this practice and adhere to swidden agriculture. Kate Evans spoke to CIFOR scientist Syed Ajijur Rahman about his recent study and solutions to the problem.

Swidden is a farming system in which land is cleared for agriculture, mostly using fire. In some cases a rotational system is used, where an area is farmed for a few years, then left fallow to regenerate; in others, the land is cultivated continuously.

Both types occur in the Gunung Salak area, and swidden is deeply rooted in the culture of the communities there. However, the farming technique can contribute to environmental problems associated with deforestation, says Syed Ajijur Rahman, lead author of the study by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bangor University and the University of Copenhagen.

Land cleared by swidden in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Photo: Yayan Indriatmoko/CIFOR
Land cleared by swidden in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Photo: Yayan Indriatmoko/CIFOR

Farmers on the slopes of the imposing volcano Gunung Salak, near Bogor in Indonesia, traditionally practise swidden agriculture, growing rice, maize and cassava in the rich volcanic soil.

“Small-scale landslides on the swidden slopes are a big problem in this part of Indonesia,” Rahman says. “The loss of forest cover and the degradation of the remaining forest can greatly increase soil erosion on these steep slopes.”

Swidden isn’t necessarily unsustainable, but rapid population growth in this part of Java means more and more people are farming in a smaller area, increasing pressure on the land.

In the study, Rahman and colleagues from Bangor University and the University of Copenhagen assessed the potential of an alternative agricultural practice – agroforestry – and found that it holds great promise for the Gunung Salak area.

Farming trees and crops together could be a triple win solution for rural farmers in West Java – increasing incomes, enhancing land tenure security and reducing deforestation and forest degradation.

A triple win

Agroforestry activity, West Kalimantan, Indonesia, 2009. Photo: Ryan Woo/CIFOR
Agroforestry activity, West Kalimantan, Indonesia, 2009. Photo: Ryan Woo/CIFOR

Agroforestry means integrating trees into agricultural landscapes. In Gunung Salak, the most popular agroforestry systems are tree plantations of teak timber or durian fruit, with other food crops – maize, yam, cassava – grown beneath the branches.

The study found that in this community, these two agroforestry systems were more profitable than swidden cultivation. Teak was especially lucrative – farmers practising teak-based agroforestry made almost three times as much money as swidden farmers did. And the benefits are not just economic.

“When we talked to the farmers, they said the people who have a teak-based system have more monetary value, and they therefore have a little bit higher social status than other farmers,” Rahman says.

Planting trees may also give farmers stronger tenure rights to their land. Farmers in Gunung Salak often don’t have a certificate of land ownership, Rahman says, and that leaves them vulnerable to land grabbing by powerful actors.

“In the swidden cultivation system they may leave the land fallow for a few months to a few years – and during this time, other people could take their land. But if they have agroforestry, the trees are more permanent, and that can give them more permanent rights on their farms,” he says.

The environment – in particular the surrounding forest – also stands to benefit. Tree crops help secure the soil and prevent landslides. Reducing the need to burn off minimizes the chance of wildfires. And a key element of forest degradation – firewood collection – is also lessened when farmers combine tree crops with agriculture.

“Many farmers in this area don’t have money to buy the gas cylinders, so they have to rely on firewood for cooking,” Rahman says. “So the easiest way is to go to the forest and collect it. Sometimes they cut the very young trees from the forest, causing forest degradation.”

Farmers with an agroforestry plot, on the other hand, must prune their trees regularly, giving them a ready supply of firewood. “It might not meet 100 percent of their firewood needs, but even if it’s a 50 percent reduction in going to the forest, that will have a positive impact,” Rahman says.

Obstacles to overcome

Yet despite these economic, social and environmental benefits, at the time of the study in 2013, the number of farmers practising agroforestry was small. In some cases, the reason was cultural. Farmers have practiced swidden for generations, and don’t see the need to try something new.

Many would be interested in making the transition, though – they just need a little help. “The farmers who are interested need support by the government or by a flexible credit policy by the bank so they can get the initial capital to start agroforestry, to fund the first year,” Rahman says.

They need technical support, too. “Many farmers don’t have the knowledge – they have to know which trees are suitable for this specific kind of land, how to market agroforestry products, and how to manage the trees on their own farm.”

The interventions needed are small, Rahman says – meaning there’s a clear opportunity for governments and NGOs to make a big difference with a relatively small investment.

“Local farmers would likely have more income and could support their livelihoods better. There would be more tree cover in the agricultural landscape, which would reduce erosion. And farmers wouldn’t need to travel to the forest to clear more land, they could stay in one place,” Rahman says.

“If we want to sustain the agricultural system in the landscape scale, then we should motivate more farmers to practice agroforestry.”

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