Assessment of homegarden agroforestry for sustainable land management intervention in a degraded landscape in South Africa

Abstract

Agroforestry-based sustainable land management (SLM) interventions provide opportunities for tackling land degradation and its associated socio-economic issues. Agroforestry is not a guaranteed SLM fix as every agroforestry practice is not automatically relevant to each context. It is critical to identify key considerations for ensuring a good fit between agroforestry and the receiving environment. This study identifies and analyses key factors for assessing the context-specific suitability of an agroforestry practice for SLM using a case-study of homegarden agroforestry in a degraded catchment. An analysis of biophysical and socio-economic characteristics of the catchment covering land degradation, SLM aspirations of residents, agriculture and agroforestry activities was conducted through literature review, field observations, GIS and remote sensing, stakeholder engagement and a questionnaire survey.Considerations in agroforestry practice assessment for SLM include agricultural and SLM objectives, which at our study site were increased crop production and arresting soil erosion. Availability of requisite resources, namely land, water and fencing; stakeholder interest in the tree and/or crop planting, species of interest and suitability of the species for the biophysical conditions should also be assessed. We propose a framework for systematically working through the relevant factors and assessing the suitability of an agroforestry practice for SLM intervention in a specific context.Based on the framework, homegarden agroforestry is an appropriate SLM intervention as it could meet stakeholders' SLM and agricultural objectives. Identification and systematic assessment of relevant factors are critical for ensuring the acceptability of agroforestry practice in a locality and the sustainability of associated SLM interventions.

Impact of land use and land cover change on land degradation in rural semi-arid South Africa: case of the Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality

“…Land in many parts of rural South Africa is controlled by traditional structures, with Traditional Authorities (TAs) (comprising a chief and their council) playing a key role in allocating land and decisions on land use (Musvoto et al, 2022 ). As part of understanding the drivers of LULCC and land degradation in GSDM, open informal discussion sessions were held with 17 Traditional Authorities, with questions focussing on their perceptions and experiences on land and natural resource-based activities, state of land and natural resources, land degradation (its causes, and impacts on land-based activities), current agricultural activities, and role of TAs in land management and mitigating land degradation.…”

Agroforestry system construction in eastern coastal China: Insights from soil–plant interactions

“…Agroforestry, as a phytoremediation measure, shows great potential for mitigating land degradation by constructing a multidimensional, efficient, and stable agroforestry composite system mainly through regulating the microenvironment of agroforestry land and improving soil properties (Bai et al, 2023;Musvoto et al, 2022). On the one hand, multi-species composition in agroforestry management systems enhances ecosystem functional diversity and may lead to higher nutrient use efficiency and net primary production (Bertsch-Hoermann et al, 2021;Pérez-Gir on et al, 2020).…”

Farmer’s Perceptions of Agroforestry Practices, Contributions to Rural Household Farm Income, and Their Determinants in Sodo Zuria District, Southern Ethiopia

“…Background of the Study. Agroforestry is a land management system that intentionally blends trees or shrubs with agricultural crops and livestock [1][2][3]. Agroforestry can help to maintain agricultural productivity [4][5][6][7], increase food security [8], alleviate temporary water and energy shortages [9], and facilitate adaptation to climate change [10].…”