Agroforestry World
Rebecca Selvarajah
Rebecca is a science writer, manager of publishing projects, trainer in science writing, and novelist — working partly from Nairobi, Kenya and partly from Morwell, Australia. With over 15 years of experience in writing, advertising/marketing, publishing and social media, she takes on varied assignments, travelling, if needed, to conduct relevant research and interviews. Originally from Sri Lanka, Rebecca holds a BA honours in Psychology, with minors in Gender Studies and Sociology. Email Rebecca on r.selvarajah@cgiar.org
Whereas state forest policies were the main drivers of forest transition in the past, private afforestation activities play an increasingly important role in planting of trees on former croplands in Yunnan, China. This is according to a study...
Pure soil is the best medium to germinate jabon seeds in. This is according to a study by Irawan and Purwanto, published recently in Agricultural Science. The same study also concluded that the best medium for jabon seedling...
Trees provide a host of products and services, allowing forest-edge communities to be food-sufficient (through trade) without cutting down forests. A study of food security aspects of land-use in four configurations of agriculture, forest and agroforestry, based on...
As the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto protocol had, in the land-use sectors, been restricted to afforestation and reforestation, the concept of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation (RED) raised interest at the 11th Conference of the Parties (COP)of...
Projects introducing improved stoves that save firewood and reduce emissions and indoor smoke address real needs but have often not succeeded as expected. Soini and Coe opine that one of the reasons for this is that lessons have...
The area covered by barren land in the West African Sahel has been fluctuating for decades giving rise to debate about whether the process is attributable to natural processes or human activities. According to Ouedraogo et al, rainfall...
What influences landowners to sign and implement contracts on land-use change? Implementation of REDD+ requires knowledge of the factors influencing these decisions and actions. In an article published in World Development, Samuel Skidmore (University of Sydney), Paulo Santos...
Does the presence of trees buffer annual food crops from climate variability? Are trees in agricultural landscapes a relevant part of climate change adaptation strategies? van Noordwijk et al review these hypotheses in a chapter entitled Agroforestry solutions...
Between 1990 and 2010 Vietnam lost over 300,000 ha of natural forests while planting 2.5 ha of trees. Reforestation activities are vital in arresting soil erosion, landslides and land degradation, especially since 25 million people live in or...
Steps to increase cocoa yields in Southern Cameroon have often led to the encroachment of cocoa plantations into forested areas, with the alarming risk of deforestation and increased carbon emissions. Disturbingly, studies show that such expansion does not...
Conservation agriculture with trees combines the best of Conservation Agriculture with the best of Agroforestry to offer many benefits to landscapes and livelihoods. But its uptake is restricted by policy, cultural and technical issues, to name some factors....
Concern about the environment and sustainable management of natural resources alone does not motivate farmers to adopt new agricultural practices. Then what does? Studies conclude that communication between farmers, agronomists, extension agencies and scientists is crucial. Takoutsing et...
Market access and value-addition interventions increased farmers’ returns by about 50% in the Lake Kivu Pilot Learning Site, say Birachi et al in an article published in the African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics. The tonnage of...
Increased availability of water boosts tree canopy growth, reducing available light for crops and leading to lower grain yields, say Coulibaly et al in a paper published in Agroforestry Systems. Precipitation does have a key effect on grain...