Adoption of an improved fallow practice using Acacia auriculiformis on the Batéké Plateau in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

An improved fallow agroforestry practice, that involves planting Acacia auriculiformis trees to accelerate soil fertility recovery, was taught to 306 farmers in Mampu agroforestry zone on the Batéké Plateau in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, from 1995 to 2001. Our study (1) assessed the princi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Agroforestry systems 2020-06, Vol.94 (3), p.1047-1058
Main Authors: Kachaka, Étienne Yusufu, Munson, Alison D., Gélinas, Nancy, Khasa, Damase
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acacia auriculiformis
Agriculture
Agroforestry
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Charcoal
Crop yield
Farmers
Forestry
Life Sciences
Regression analysis
Regression models
Soil fertility
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:An improved fallow agroforestry practice, that involves planting Acacia auriculiformis trees to accelerate soil fertility recovery, was taught to 306 farmers in Mampu agroforestry zone on the Batéké Plateau in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, from 1995 to 2001. Our study (1) assessed the principal factors that determined the continued application of this practice by farmers; and (2) identified the benefits and constraints perceived by those farmers who adopted the practice two decades ago. We applied a mixed approach that combined quantitative as well as qualitative evaluation. First, a multiple linear regression model was constructed based on a survey of 121 farmers that adopted the new practice. We subsequently conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 adopters. The regression models identified that the availability of labour, based on the number of household members working in the fields, best explained the continued use of the improved fallow practice ( P  = 0.0898). In the interviews, revenue from the sale of charcoal and improvement in crop yields were cited as key benefits of improved fallow, while the lack of nurseries for tree production and the problems of access to water were the main drawbacks mentioned by adopters. The study results identify the principal factors influencing the adoption of this practice, as well as the perception of farmers; this information can be used to guide the dissemination of improved fallow practice to other communities on the Batéké Plateau landscape.
ISSN:0167-4366
1572-9680
DOI:10.1007/s10457-019-00474-5