Agroforestry project helping African farmers grow trees

Updated December 10, 2013 17:05:48

Audio: Tree project aims to improve food security in Africa (ABC Rural)

African farmers are making the same mistake Australian producers have made in the past: they're cutting down all the trees on their farms.

Now a new project run by the World Agroforestry Centre is helping farmers in Ethiopia and Rwanda grow more trees instead.

'Trees for Food Security' is designed to help improve food security in African countries where millions of people face hunger and live below the poverty line.

The Centre's research scientist, Catherine Muthuri says farmers who have trees on their farms usually cut them down to use as firewood and timber.

"People in the rural areas do not have any source of fuel load and then they are cutting down trees because sometimes they don't have anything else around them," she said.

"If their crops are not producing much, then they go to the nearest forests and cut down the trees and sometimes they also clear the forest to create land for farming.

"So we find that soil fertility has declined significantly and the percentage of trees on farm is very low."

The Word Agroforestry Centre monitors water, nutrients and temperature to help advise farmers on what trees to grow and how to look after them.

Ms Muthuri says trees provide long-term benefits but the project, which has been running for one year, is already showing signs of success.

"We are advising farmers to grow things like shrubs, which are available to provide them with fodder for their animals, so that is something which we are already seeing great results," she said.

"We are providing fencing material, where farmers are able to fence off their animals and keep them away, and therefore enhance their food.

"So crop production in the next season should be improving, meaning they don't have to use as much fertiliser, which they cannot afford because it's expensive."

The project will focus initially on Ethiopia and Rwanda and then extend the appropriate agroforestry technologies to Uganda and Burundi.

Topics: rural, forestry, forests, environment, agribusiness, tree, research-organisations, science-and-technology, research, canberra-2600

First posted December 10, 2013 12:14:26