FARMERS’ GREENHOUSE GAS BALANCES IN DIVERSE AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS IN MADAGASCAR TARGETING CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION

Rakotovao Harisoa Narindraa, Chevallier Tiphaineb, Chapuis-Lardy Lydiebc, Rasoarinaivo Angelina Rondrotsifantenanaa, Razafimbelo Tantely Maminiainaa aLaboratoire des Radioisotopes, Université d’Antananarivo, BP 3383, Route d’Andraisoro, 101 Antananarivo, Madagascar bUMR Eco&Sols, IRD, Cirad, Inra, SupAgro, Campus SupAgro, 2 place Viala, 34060 Montpellier cLMI IESOL, Intensification Ecologique des Sols Cultivés en Afrique de l’Ouest, Dakar, Senegal

*Courriel: n.rakotovao@yahoo.fr

Agroforestry is one of the alternative practices suggested to farmers living around protected

forest to reduce deforestation and soil erosion. The objective of this study was to make an

impact assessment of agroforestry systems on greenhouse gas (GHG) balances, using FARMS

carbon footprint approach. MADAGASCAR

Introduction

Material and Methods

Data collection:

Survey of 15 farms located in the Commune Andasibe, Moramanga, Madagascar

(Fig 1).

Data on system of production, field crops, land surface, yield and production, tree

plantation, organic fertilizers, chemical inputs, pesticides, livestock, manure

management, energy consumption

Typology of the main agroforestry system existing in the study area.

Farm carbon footprint calculation:

Use of TropiC Farm Tool: a tool developed to estimate carbon footprint of Tropical

and Malagasy farms adopting alternative practices (Fig 2).

Tool made of 6 Excel sheets corresponding to “farm description”, “agriculture”,

“livestock”, “forestry”, “energy consumption”, “results”.

Data analysis

Photo 1: Agroforestry based on Naturally occurring Tree

Species (NTS)

Results and discussion

Two main agroforestry systems:

Agroforestry based on Naturally occurring Tree Species (NTS), i.e. annual crops

were planted in a forest dominated by native trees species (Photo 1)

Agroforestry based on actual annual crop fields where Fruit Trees have

been Planted (FTP) (Photo 2)

Carbon footprint of farmers adopting NTS was about -3,7 tCO2eq.ha-1.yr-1

Carbon footprint of farmers adopting FTP was about -1,4 tCO2eq.ha-1.yr-1

The agroforestry system based on NTS sequestered more GHG (-17.56 tCO2eq) at farm

scale compared to FTP (-2.2 tCO2eq) due to tree species diversity and density

plantation.

Agroforestry improve farms carbon footprint through carbon sequestration in the soil

and the woody biomass (Fig 3).

Fig 1: Location of study site

Fig 2: TropiC Farm Tool used for farms carbon footprint calculation

Photo 2: Agroforestry based on annual crop fields where

Fruit Trees have been Planted (FTP)

Conclusion

This study highlighted the important contribution of agroforestry system to create

carbon sinks in the soil and the biomass improving GHG balance of smallholder farms.

4th World Congress of Agroforestry- France (Montpellier)-20-22 May 2019

Fig 3: Average ccontribution of agricultural activities to GHG emission and

sequestration at farm scale

References

Rakotovao, N.H., Razafimbelo, T.M., Rakotosamimanana, S., Randrianasolo, Z., Randriamalala, J.R., Albrecht, A., 2017. Carbon footprint of smallholder farms in Central Madagascar: The integration of

agroecological practices. J. Clean. Prod. 140, 1165–1175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.10.045

Feliciano, D., Ledo, A., Hillier, J., Nayak, D.R., 2018. Which agroforestry options give the greatest soil and above ground carbon benefits in different world regions? Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 254, 117–

129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2017.11.032