Farmers’ perceptions of agroforestry, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Abstract

The development of agriculture, particularly monocultures and extensive land-consuming practices, are causing deforestation and forest degradation, and this destruction of important carbon sinks is fueling climate change. Agroforestry, which involves the association of trees with crops and/or livestock, is presented as an alternative to industrial agriculture and slash-and-burn practices, to promote climate change resilience. In addition to climate change mitigation, agroforestry offers a plenitude of benefits, but there are often challenges to implementing agroforestry models. These include ensuring feasibility in local contexts and meeting diverse needs, which requires constant adaptation and mutual learning between farmers and technical experts. This proved true for Tropenbos DRC who worked to promote agroforestry among small forest and agricultural producers in the Bafwasende area of Tshopo Province. Tropenbos DRC’s initial approach of creating community agroforestry fields faced limited success as an unexpected degree of individualism made a communitarian approach unsuitable. The original model also met resistance as it combined cocoa and plantain with trees despite plantain not being an economically viable crop for farmers. In response, a shift in approach was made to rather support individual farmers interested in agroforestry, who could prioritise cocoa plants amongst trees, to ensure greater profits. In the former model, from 2019 to 2021, only 4 ha of cocoa trees were planted. Conversely, in just six months of adopting the new model in 2021, 45 ha of cocoa trees were planted. It is clear then, that the success of agroforestry models depends on farmer’s acceptance. All stakeholders must be included in what should be a participatory and iterative process that must remain flexible, as adaptability is essential for the continuous improvement and success of agroforestry initiatives.