Climate Change Adaptation - Climate Resilient Agriculture for Ensuring Food Security - page 247

Table 12.6 Five stag es to the design and implementation of an agroforestry system
Stage Basic tasks

Diagnostic Defi nition of the land-use system and site selection

Physical characteristics (including altitude, rainfall, slopes, water supplies, soil condition,
visible erosion). This is basic background for evaluating the need for agro-forestry and the
local suitability of various techniques

Current uses of trees and shrubbery. This suggests the kind of subsistence products that an
agro-forestry system would be expected to provide

Sales and purchases of agro-forestry products (including poles, fruit, fi rewood, fodder, etc.).
This provides data for economic analysis and indicates opportunities to replace purchased
items or to expand sales by raising agro-forestry products

Current tree planting (including species, source of seedlings, and intended use). This shows
the present state of silvicultural knowledge

Farmers' perceptions of deforestation and erosion (including any perceived impact on crop
yields). This gives a sense of how critical farmers think their problems are and indicates
current awareness of agro-forestry relationships

Land and tree tenure. This shows whether farmers have a right to their trees and therefore
whether they have an incentive to plant

Current yields

Limiting constraints access to technology and fi nance, farmer capacities, and markets

Survey of local knowledge and scope for domestication of wild food and medicinal plants

Design and
evaluation

How to improve the system?
List potential benefi ts of an agro-forestry system
List agricultural production needs (meet food security, increase production to meet market
demands, and so on)
Adoptability considerations: social and cultural acceptance; importance of local knowledge,
practice, and capacity; as well as equity and gender issues
Characterize the crops desired by minimum space requirements, water and fertilizer needs,
and shade tolerance
Select the trees, shrubs, or grasses to be used
Planning If the system is temporary:
Plan the features of soil erosion control, earthworks, and gully maintenance
Plan spacing of fruit trees according to fi nal spacing requirements
Plan a succession of annual or short-lived perennials beginning with the most shade tolerant
for the fi nal years of intercropping
If the system is permanent:
Plan the proportion of the permanent fruit and lumber trees on the basis of relative
importance to the farmer
Plan the spacing of long-term trees on the basis of fi nal space requirements times 0.5
Plan succession of annual and perennial understory crops, including crops for soil protection
and enrichment
As large permanent trees grow, adjust planting plan to place shade-tolerant crops in most
shady areas
Implementation On-farm trials of proposed agro-forestry models to analyze impacts of trees on crops, testing
harvesting regimes
Monitoring Ongoing study and analysis of soil nutrition, moisture, and so on
Watershed design study
Measure the inputs and outputs of the system (including yields of trees and crops, and labor
requirements)
Survey of land use
Socioeconomic benefi t assessment
Source: Martin and Sherman ( 1992 ) and FAO ( 1991 )