A c a s e s t u d y o f s o i l f e r t i l i t y ,

f e r t i l i z e r s u b s i d y , a n d a g r o f o r e s t r y

Revitalizing African agriculture from the ground up:

World Agroforestry Congress 2014, Delhi, India

Why Malawi?

Lack of access to food and cash for rural smallholders in SE Africa

Fertilizer is extremely expensive in these settings and does not treat underlying soil fertility issues

Faidherbia albida

Indigenous

Intercropped, fertilizer tree

Increases maize yields

Experimental success

The Agroforestry System

Study Goals

Should farmers implement this technology? Are the incentives right?

Question 1: Can the intercropping system be associated with higher maize yields outside of an experimental setting?

Question 2: Is this system compatible with farmer resources and goals?

Question 3: If this is a valid use of resources, how can adoption be expanded?

Data

Household survey of 390 farmers holding 497 fields

Two districts, 30 days of field work

Supported by ICRAF, Malawi Department of Forestry, NCSU

Quantitative data and open-ended questions

Question 1: higher maize yield

The Models

Maize yield (kg/ha) = f(tree, farmer, crop management,physical land characteristics)

Farmer Crop Management

Tree – Varies by Model12

Physical Land

But what does it really mean?

All tree variables are highly significant(<1%)

Magnitude of tree variables comparable or greater than other crop management practices

12-14% increase over average (1.4 tons/ha)

168.5 kg/ha for presence

206-211 kg per/ha for physical characteristic models

169 173143

97 91

0

50

100

150

200

Ma

ize

KG

per

hec

tare

Tree Presence Model

F. albida

Chemical Fertilizer

Hybrid Maize

Other Agroforestry Tree

Manure

Question 2: Compatibility

Labor Demand

Labor demanded for establishment of trees varies by method, 40 – 53 person days per hectare

Significant variation and small sample size (N=119)

Relatively minor compared to demands from maize crops, 377 person days per hectare

11 to 14% increase in labor demanded, across activities

Pruning will require 18 person days per hect per year – 5% increase in labor

Question 3: Adoption

Agroforestry Adoption Decision Criteria

Attribute Rank (of 6)

How well the systems combine with existing farm practices – Compatibility

4.9

Flexibility of the systems 4.5

The systems’ ability to provide multiple products such as food or fuelwood

3.2

Your confidence in the systems’ ability to provide the promised benefits – Reliability

3.1

Consistency of benefits each year 2.9

Financial benefits compared to cost of planting trees 2.3

• Compatibility – Same activities, timing

• Flexibility – Trees cannot be moved, but have positive impact on yield across crops, including cash crops

Recap

Yes! There is a link to higher maize yield 12-14% - Enough to feed a child for a year

Less than experimental but comparable to chemical fertilizer and other practices

Yes! It works with available resources Chemical fertilizer is extremely expensive, more than all

other inputs combined, required every single year

Better option for cash constrained by labor abundant communities, including this one and many in SE Africa

Expanding adoption F. albida intercropping system well suited based on top

decision criteria: compatibility and flexibility

World Agroforestry Congress 2014ICRAF (Oluyede Ajayi, Frank Place, Dennis Garrity, Tracy Beedy, Innocent Phiri, Maurice

Zimba), USAID, Malawi’s Department of Forestry, NCSU (Fred Cubbage, Nils Peterson, Erin Sills, Laarman Grant)

&My extraordinary survey team (Martin, Alinafe, Brenda, Allen, Philmon)

Questions?

viola.glenn@gmail.com