Agriculture faces a very complex set of social and biophysical issues associated with the economic, social and environmental sustainability. This paper examines the role of perennial species, especially trees, in the attainment of improved staple crop yields; provision of nutritious traditional food; the reduction of poverty, hunger, malnutrition and environmental degradation; the improvement of rural livelihoods; as well as the mitigation of climate change - all with increased economic growth with a programme of Integrated Rural Development (Leakey, 2010; 2012a/b). It therefore provides a model, or policy roadmap, for the delivery of the sustainable intensification of productive tropical and sub-tropical agriculture which is pro-poor and multifunctional – i.e. enhancing agriculture economically, socially and environmentally (Leakey, 2012a). This paper is based on 12 interconnected Principles (Box 1).
Alley cropping is broadly defined as the planting of two or more sets of single or multiple rows of trees or shrubs at wide spacings, creating alleys within which agricultural, horticultural, or forage crops are cultivated. The trees or shrubs may include valuable hardwood species, such as nut trees, or trees desirable for wood products. Shrubs can provide nuts, fruit or other products. This approach is sometimes called intercropping and multi-cropping. Currently most of the emphasis and research focuses on pecan, chestnut and eastern black walnut alley cropping applications. However, there are numerous other potential tree, shrub and crop combinations.
Purpose of a Fence
There are several reasons for establishing fences on the small farm.
- To mark boundary lines between farms or next to roads.
- To separate adjacent fields used for distinct purposes
- To protect and keep animals from straying
- To protect crops from animal damage
A fence represents a major investment on the small farm. Although it carries a cost, it also provides something of benefit, namely protection. It is often a challenge to small farmers to increase farm production, such as crop yield, and the use of fences can facilitate such improvements. Whereas a fence may facilitate yield increase on the farm, a living fence can improve the efficiency of the production as well.
Over 10 million families in Mesoamerica (Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua) are subsistence hillside farmers who grow their own food, primarily maize and beans: They face serious challenges to be able to produce enough to feed their families; most own 0.5-4 hectares of highly degraded hillsides (80% of the soils are degraded) (1), which is farmed using traditional farming techniques of slash and burn or more recently slash and chemicals. They are food insecure, having high levels of chronic malnutrition. It is estimated that farmers make a loss two years out five from maize production and studies show that rural families have incomes less than expenditures (2). It is no accident that this is a region of high levels of food insecurity (3) the rural population face an even more serious threat and that is climate variability. This region is one of the world’s most susceptible to growing climate instability (4) and studies indicate that yields are threatened to decline by 30% over the next thirty years (5).
Agroforestry – the integration of trees with annual crop cultivation, livestock production and other farm activities – is a series of land management approaches practised by more than 1.2 billion people worldwide. Integration increases farm productivity when the various components occupy complementary niches and their associations are managed effectively (Steffan-Dewenter et al. 2007). Agroforestry systems may range from open parkland assemblages, to dense imitations of tropical rainforests such as home gardens, to planted mixtures of only a few species, to trees planted in hedges or on boundaries of fields and farms, with differing levels of human management of the various components. Agroforestry systems provide a variety of products and services that are important locally, nationally and globally (Garrity 2004); but their role is not always fully acknowledged in development policies and practices, reflecting the difficult-to-measure, diverse pathways by which trees affect people’s lives. Women who are unable to afford high-cost technologies due to severe cash and credit constraints often favour relatively low-input agroforestry options (Kiptot and Franzel 2012).
Tree crop-based agroforestry systems, which function as multistrata systems, are an ecologically and economically important group of land-use systems in the humid and subhumid tropics. They are also found in dry climates in regions with high water availability; however, this aspect is not focused on here. Multistrata systems are widespread in lowland and mountainous areas, often surrounding homesteads and thus referred to as homegardens or forming a transitional zone between cultivated land into forests (Murniati et al., 2001; Schroth et al., 2004a).
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Kilimo ni changamoto kubwa ya kijamii na ya kibiolojia inayohusiana na uendelevu wa kiuchumi, kijamii na mazingira. "Hii ni pamoja na ""kuchunguza jukumu la spishi za kudumu, hasa miti, katika kufikia uzalishaji wa mazao ya msingi, kutoa chakula cha kitamaduni chenye lishe, kupunguza umaskini, njaa, utapiamlo na uharibifu wa mazingira, kuboresha maisha ya vijijini, na kupunguza mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa, yote na ukuaji wa kiuchumi na mpango wa maendeleo ya vijijini ya pamoja.""" Kwa hiyo inatoa mfano, au ramani ya barabara ya sera, kwa ajili ya utoaji wa kuongeza endelevu ya uzalishaji wa kilimo cha kitropiki na kitropiki ambayo ni pro-masikini na multifunctional <unk> yaani. Kuimarisha uchumi wa kilimo katika mazingira na kijamii (Leyton, 2012). Hati hii inategemea kanuni 12 zinazohusiana (Sanduku 1). Alley kilimo ni kupanda ya seti mbili au zaidi ya safu moja au nyingi ya miti au vichaka katika nafasi pana, kujenga vijia ndani ya ambayo kilimo, bustani, au mazao ya malisho ni kulimwa. Miti au vichaka vinaweza kutia ndani aina zenye thamani za mbao ngumu, kama vile miti ya karanga, au miti inayotakiwa kwa ajili ya bidhaa za mbao. Miti inaweza kutoa karanga, matunda au bidhaa nyingine. Njia hii wakati mwingine huitwa kupanda kwa pamoja na kupanda kwa mara nyingi. Hivi sasa wengi wa msisitizo na utafiti inalenga juu ya pecan, chestnut na mashariki nyeusi walnut alley mazao maombi. Hata hivyo, kuna mchanganyiko mwingine mwingi wa miti, vichaka, na mazao. Kusudi la Ua Kuna sababu kadhaa za kuweka ua katika shamba dogo. - Kuashiria mipaka kati ya mashamba au karibu na barabara. - Kutenganisha mashamba ya karibu kutumika kwa madhumuni tofauti - Kulinda na kuweka wanyama kutoka straying - Kulinda mazao kutoka uharibifu wa wanyama uzio inawakilisha uwekezaji mkubwa juu ya shamba ndogo. Ingawa ina gharama, pia hutoa faida fulani, yaani, ulinzi. Mara nyingi ni changamoto kwa wakulima wadogo kuongeza uzalishaji wa shamba, kama vile mavuno ya mazao, na matumizi ya uzio yanaweza kuwezesha maboresho kama hayo. Ingawa uzio unaweza kuwezesha ongezeko la mavuno katika shamba, uzio wa kuishi unaweza kuboresha ufanisi wa uzalishaji pia. Zaidi ya familia milioni 10 katika Mesoamerica (Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras na Nicaragua) ni wakulima wa mteremko wa mteremko ambao hukua chakula chao wenyewe, hasa mahindi na maharagwe: wanakabiliwa na changamoto kubwa ya kuweza kuzalisha vya kutosha kulisha familia zao; wengi wao wana hekta 0.5-4 za mteremko ulioharibiwa sana (80% ya udongo umeharibiwa) ambao unalimwa kwa kutumia mbinu za kilimo za jadi za kukata na kuchoma au hivi karibuni kukata na kemikali. Wao hawana usalama wa chakula, wakiwa na viwango vya juu vya utapiamlo wa kudumu. Inakadiriwa kwamba wakulima hupata hasara miaka miwili kati ya mitano kutokana na uzalishaji wa mahindi na tafiti zinaonyesha kwamba familia za vijijini zina mapato chini ya matumizi. "Hakuna shaka kwamba eneo hili lina matatizo makubwa ya chakula na watu wa vijijini wanakabiliwa na tishio kubwa zaidi, yaani, mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa.""" Mkoa huu ni moja ya maeneo ya dunia ambayo yanaathiriwa zaidi na hali mbaya ya hali ya hewa na utafiti unaonyesha kwamba mazao yanatishia kupungua kwa asilimia 30 katika miaka 30 ijayo. Agroforestry - ushirikiano wa miti na kilimo cha kila mwaka, uzalishaji wa mifugo na shughuli nyingine za kilimo - ni safu ya mbinu za usimamizi wa ardhi zinazotumiwa na watu zaidi ya bilioni 1.2 ulimwenguni. Ushirikiano huongeza uzalishaji wa shamba wakati vipengele mbalimbali vinachukua niches za ziada na ushirika wao unasimamiwa kwa ufanisi (Steffan-Dewenter et al. 2007) na Mifumo ya kilimo cha misitu inaweza kuanzia kwenye maeneo ya wazi, hadi kwenye mifumo ya misitu ya mvua ya kitropiki kama vile bustani za nyumbani, kwa mchanganyiko wa mimea ya aina chache tu, kwa miti iliyopandwa kwenye mipaka ya mashamba na mashamba, na viwango tofauti vya usimamizi wa binadamu wa vipengele mbalimbali. Mifumo ya kilimo na misitu hutoa bidhaa na huduma mbalimbali ambazo ni muhimu katika eneo, kitaifa na kimataifa (Garrity 2004), lakini jukumu lao si daima kutambuliwa kikamilifu katika sera za maendeleo na mazoea, kuonyesha njia ngumu ya kupima, mbalimbali ambayo miti kuathiri maisha ya watu. Wanawake ambao hawawezi kumudu teknolojia za gharama kubwa kwa sababu ya vikwazo vikali vya fedha na mikopo mara nyingi hupendelea chaguzi za kilimo cha misitu ya chini (Kiptot na Franzel 2012). Mifumo ya kilimo cha misitu ya mti, ambayo hufanya kazi kama mifumo ya multistrata, ni kikundi muhimu cha kiikolojia na kiuchumi cha mifumo ya matumizi ya ardhi katika maeneo ya kitropiki yenye unyevunyevu na subhumid. Pia hupatikana katika hali ya hewa kavu katika mikoa yenye upatikanaji mkubwa wa maji; hata hivyo, kipengele hiki hakizingatiwi hapa. Mifumo ya multistrata ni kuenea katika maeneo ya chini na milima, mara nyingi kuzunguka homesteads na hivyo inajulikana kama homegardens au kuunda eneo la mpito kati ya ardhi ya kilimo katika misitu (Murniati et al., 2001; Schroth et al., 2004a). "Mfano: ""Mfano wa Mti wa Mti"" ni mfano wa ""Mfano wa Mti wa Mti"" ni mfano wa ""Mfano wa Mti wa Mti"" ni mfano wa ""Mfano wa Mti wa Mti"" ni mfano wa ""Mfano wa Mti wa Mti"" ni mfano wa ""Mfano wa Mti wa Mti"" ni mfano wa ""Mfano wa Mti wa Mti"" ni mfano wa ""Mfano wa Mti wa Mti"" ni mfano wa ""Mfano wa Mti wa Mti"" ni mfano wa ""Mfano wa Mti"" ni mfano wa ""Mfano wa Mti"" ni mfano wa ""Mfano wa Mti"""