Agroforestry: how local communities are restoring their land

In the Sahel, some millet fields are dotted with tall trees whose branches stand bare during the rainy season. The farmer hasn't forgotten them. These trees shed their leaves at exactly the moment the crops need them, dropping them to the ground as a natural fertiliser.

This partnership between tree and field has a name: agroforestry. Long dismissed as an old-fashioned traditional practice, it is now one of the most promising responses to land degradation in Africa.

Its great strength can be summed up in one idea: restoring the land without ever having to stop farming it.

What is agroforestry?

Agroforestry covers all the practices that deliberately combine trees with crops or livestock on the same land. The tree is no longer the field's rival; it becomes its partner.

For an introduction to the basic principles, our article on agroforestry in 4 key questions covers the fundamentals.

The main forms of agroforestry in Africa

Parkland systems. Trees scattered across fields, such as shea, néré or Faidherbia albida in West Africa. This is the most widespread form in the Sahel.

Agroforestry gardens. Plots with several layers growing one above the other: tall fruit trees, shrubs, food crops and low-growing plants. They are found particularly in Madagascar and in humid regions.

Hedgerows and windbreaks. Rows of trees along the edges of fields that shield crops from the wind and reduce erosion.

Silvopasture. Combining trees with grazing land, where the trees provide shade and fodder for animals.

Why does agroforestry restore the land?

Trees feed the soil

Fallen leaves break down and enrich the soil with organic matter. Some species, the legumes, capture nitrogen from the air and fix it in the ground. Faidherbia albida is the best-known example: in several countries in Southern and West Africa, maize and millet yields are markedly higher beneath its canopy than in open fields.

Roots hold water and soil in place

Deep roots stabilise the soil, reduce erosion by rain and wind, and help water soak into the ground. In drought-prone regions, this better-retained water often makes the difference between a harvest and a lost crop.

Shade protects crops

As the climate grows ever hotter, the dappled shade of trees reduces evaporation and heat stress on plants. It creates a microclimate that is kinder to crops and animals alike.

How do local communities make agroforestry their own?

Farmer-managed natural regeneration: the Sahel example

In Niger and Burkina Faso, farmers have re-greened millions of hectares since the mid-1990s. Their method: spot the shoots sprouting from the stumps of felled trees, protect them, prune them and let them grow up in the middle of their fields.

This re-greening didn't come from a major international programme. It grew out of farmers noticing that their harvests and incomes rose alongside the trees.

Trees that earn an income

The key to adoption is economic. A mango, cashew, coffee or moringa tree yields products that can be sold. Dead wood is used for cooking, leaves for fodder. Every tree becomes an extra source of income, and therefore something the family takes care to protect.

This is what sets agroforestry apart from plantations imposed from outside: the trees belong to the people who live from them.

Training: an essential step

Choosing the right species, managing competition between trees and crops, pruning at the right time: agroforestry has to be learned. Lasting projects invest as much in training as in seedlings.

What tangible results has agroforestry achieved in Africa?

By strengthening local production, agroforestry also contributes to communities' food sovereignty, making them less dependent on outside markets.

It is also one of the 8 solutions to tackle deforestation, as it makes it possible to grow more on existing land without clearing new forest.

How does LIFE support agroforestry?

LIFE's Sapousse programme, launched in 2016, follows exactly this approach. Rather than planting isolated forests, it provides families with "economic" trees suited to their local land, planted alongside their crops.

In Madagascar, 400 families in the Anosy, Itasy and Bongolava regions each received 500 seedlings: ravintsara, mango, tapia, cinnamon and coffee trees, making 200,000 trees in all. The fruit and cash-crop species provide a steady income while the trees restore the soil.

The planting goes hand in hand with other activities: distributing farming tools and green manure, creating vegetable gardens, and training in sustainable agriculture and green entrepreneurship. More than 14,000 people have been supported in Senegal, Mali, Benin, Morocco, Madagascar, Lebanon, Bangladesh and Indonesia. The results are published in LIFE's activity reports.

These projects are part of the wider movement for reforestation in Africa, driven by one conviction: a tree that feeds people is a tree that stays standing.