Farmer-led approaches to increasing tree diversity in fields and farmed landscapes in Ethiopia

Increasing tree cover and managing trees better on farms in Ethiopia supports livelihoods and the environment but most tree-planting schemes promote only a few species. This research aimed to understand farmers’ tree planting priorities in Oromia, Ethiopia and address challenges involved in meeting them. Tree species and planting niches were elicited through focus group discussions. Participatory trials compared 17 tree species across seven on-farm planting niches and seedling survival and growth patterns were evaluated. Farmers suggested a high diversity of tree species suitable for each niche with fruit species mainly selected for homesteads. The diversity of desired tree species is much higher than that typically available in nurseries or promoted by tree planting projects. Meeting planting demands was difficult because the existing seedling supply does not support diversity. Evaluation of tree survival showed striking differences among species, farms, agroecologies and planting niches. There was high variation in seedling survival amongst the tree species planted on 1893 farm/planting niche locations, indicating impact of local level risk factors attributable to management, biotic and abiotic causes. Growth differences of the six shared species common to both agroecologies across different niches, showed that the effects of species and niche were significant on growth. A farmer-led approach to increasing tree cover that couples understanding of species and planting niche preferences with appropriate seedling supply and management is proposed as a means to increase the diversity of trees in farmed landscapes

Crop productivity and tree growth in intercropped agroforestry systems in semi-arid and sub-humid regions of Ethiopia

Agroforestry has been practiced traditionally by smallholder farmers in tropical countries, including Ethiopia. However, scientific information on tree-crop interactions isn’t widely available. Long-term agroforestry field experiments were conducted, in sub-humid and semi-arid regions of Ethiopia, to explore the impacts of intercropping on crop yield and tree growth. The treatments in the sub-humid areas were; tree alone (Cordia, Grevillea, Croton, and Acacia abyssinica), (2) crop alone, teff (Eragrostis tef), maize (Zea mays) and finger millet (Eleusine coracana), (3) tree + crop, (4) mix of four tree species and (5) mix of tree species + crops. The treatments in the semi-arid area included (1) tree + crop (teff with Faidherbia, Moringa, Acacia nilotica and Cordia, (2) crop alone, and (3) mix of trees + crops. The species choice was determined by suitability to local contexts and from farmer prioritisation participatory design workshops. Crop yield, tree height, and diameter were measured from each treatment. Crop yields under tree + crop treatments were not significantly different (α = 0.05) from crop yield in the sole crop treatments (in both areas), except crop yields under Acacia abyssinia, which had the lowest crop yields compared to the rest of the treatments in the sub-humid areas. In the semi-arid area, teff yield under Faidherbia in 2019, has increased by 64%, compared to the yield in 2017. The best growth performance was attained by Grevillea and Cordia in the sub-humid areas, whereas Acacia nilotica performed well in the semi-arid areas. These results suggest that the selection of appropriate tree and crop species can enhances crop and tree production in agroforestry systems of Ethiopia