Presentation for the World Agroforestry Congress 2014 in New Delhi. Revitalizing African Agriculture from the Ground up.

1. Revitalizing African agriculture
from the ground up:
A case study of soil fertility,
fertilizer subsidy, and agroforestry
World Agroforestry Congress 2014, Delhi, India

2. 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

3. The Agroforestry System
 Faidherbia albida
 Indigenous
 Intercropped,
fertilizer tree
 Increases maize yields
 Experimental success

4. 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?

5. 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

6. Question 1: higher maize yield

7. The Models
Maize yield (kg/ha) = f(tree, farmer, crop management,
physical land characteristics)
1
2
Farmer
Tree – Varies by Model
Crop Management
Physical Land

8. 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
Maize KG per hectare
Tree Presence Model
200
150
100
50
0
169
173
143
97
91
F. albida
Chemical Fertilizer
Hybrid Maize
Other Agroforestry Tree
Manure

9. Question 2: Compatibility

10. 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

11. Question 3: Adoption

12. Agroforestry Adoption Decision Criteria
Attribute
How well the systems combine with existing farm
practices – Compatibility
Flexibility of the systems
Rank (of 6)
4.9
4.5
The systems’ ability to provide multiple products such
as food or fuelwood
Your confidence in the systems’ ability to provide the
promised benefits – Reliability
Consistency of benefits each year
2.9
Financial benefits compared to cost of planting trees
2.3
3.2
3.1
• Compatibility – Same activities, timing
• Flexibility – Trees cannot be moved, but have positive
impact on yield across crops, including cash crops

13. 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

14. Questions?
viola.glenn@gmail.com
World Agroforestry Congress 2014
ICRAF (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)