BioDesign Agroecology: Fodder Trees - Saving Soil

BioDesign Agroecology 11 09.17  
  grahamk83<biodesigndiy@gmail.com>    11 September 2017 at 09:13

Fodder Trees  - Saving Soil

Mary Gichuki is a farmer in Kiambu County, a few minutes’ drive from Nairobi, Kenya. She began planting fodder trees on her small plot in 2006. Since then, she has been selling tree seeds and seedlings, and educating other farmers on how to use them.
Ms. Gichuki says, “Farmers listen to me more because people have seen how the trees have lifted me from some level of poverty to where I am today.” Ms. Gichuki earns 6,000 Kenyan shillings (US $60) for each two-kilogram packet of seeds. She serves between 60 and 90 customers a month during the rainy season.

Fodder trees are fast-growing trees that provide food for dairy cows and goats. The World Agroforestry Centre <http://www.worldagroforestry.org/>, or ICRAF, estimates that nearly a quarter-million farmers have planted fodder trees in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda.

Steve Franzel is an agricultural economist at ICRAF. He says: “[These trees] are important for helping farmers adapt to climate change because, being deep-rooted, they are resistant to drought and maintain high-protein green fodder during the dry season, when the protein level of grasses decline[s].” 
Mr. Franzel adds, “The trees are generally planted as hedges and often along field contours, helping prevent soil erosion.”

Small-scale farmers in western Kenya’s Siwot village have also turned to planting trees as part of their plan to increase revenues and improve living standards. Most farmers in the area grow maize, beans, and vegetables for subsistence, and coffee and sugar cane as cash crops.

In 2008, 46 men and women from the village got together to form the Toben Gaa Self Help Group. Their goal was to achieve prosperity for themselves and their community.
With help from ICRAF, the group planted trees and changed some farming practices. Trees now cover 10% of their village. The trees provide food, income, and firewood for the community. They also offer shade and shelter, and prevent soil erosion from heavy rain.
David Sang is a member of the group. He now has fruit trees and 200 grevillea trees that provide shade and act as a windbreak to protect his 1,500 coffee trees. His farm now generates income from fruits, vegetables, coffee, and milk. Mr. Sang says, “Our environment has changed, thanks to the trees we have grown on our farms.”

Rusi Cheruiyot now has a tree nursery on her farm, where she and her husband raise coffee, papaya, mango, passion fruit, and grevillea seedlings for sale. They have planted 400 trees themselves.
Ms. Cheruiyot says: “As a mother, I feel good and have no worries. My son was the first from this village to go to university. He is now a role model in our community…. I have achieved a lot with the resources I have. My living standards have improved and I have even built a house with proceeds from my produce.”


  Trees & Soil

 Saïdou Ouédraogo is playing tour guide this morning, showing farmers around his three-hectare field. But the farmers are here as students, not tourists. The lush, green plot has become a model of effective soil recovery practices. Outside Mr. Ouédraogo’s fence, the soil is barren.
The 60-year-old farmer lives in the small village of Komnongo in central Burkina Faso, about 50 kilometres from the capital, Ouagadougou. Mr. Ouédraogo and his twelve brothers inherited several hectares of land from their parents, but much of it was unsuitable for farming. He managed to harvest between 600 and 800 kilograms of maize and millet per year, but it was not enough to feed his family.
Mr. Ouédraogo recalls, “I was really hungry. I could not feed myself with what I farmed.”
The soil in the village is dry and depleted. Some types of grass and bushes are disappearing from the area, as they can no longer grow in such poor soil. This represents a loss of biodiversity. Burkina Faso’s environment ministry says a third of the country’s land is no longer suitable for agriculture.
Many farmers in the area have abandoned their farms in favour of other activities. But Mr. Ouédraogo decided to stay and fight to replenish the soil, hoping to feed his large family.
In 2009, he decided to experiment with two techniques called “zai pits” and “half-moon ditches” to improve the soil. These methods involve digging holes, either circular holes or larger crescent-shaped ditches, that help control rainwater and channel it toward crops.
half-moon ditches or demi-lune
Half-moon ditches or demi-lunes. Credit: Harouna Sana
Zai pits and half-moon ditches can increase yields even in the first year. The farmer does not need to wait for the land to fully regenerate before sowing.
The soil remains bare between zai pits, but inside the hole the earth is damp and fertile. The pit collects and retains moisture and prevents the rich soil and seeds from being washed away by the rain.
Mr. Ouédraogo planted trees and watered them regularly. Then he dug zai and half-moon ditches between the trees for planting forage grasses. The grasses grew at the same time that the soil began to recover.
Mr. Ouédraogo built a wire mesh fence around his field with a subsidy from the association Tee Palga, which means “new tree” in the Mooré language. The fence keeps out hungry animals and people who might cut firewood in Mr. Ouédraogo’s plot.
Mr. Ouédraogo managed to renew his soil. He also planted maize and other grains. Production increased by 80%, which allowed him to feed his family and cover their expenses. He even sold part of his harvest. During the first half of 2017, he earned about 250,000 CFA francs ($455 US) from selling fodder and wood. He also sold some of the rocks he had cleared from his fields.
Mr. Ouédraogo gave some fodder to his fellow farmers, and exchanged some for organic fertilizer. Villagers come to his farm to collect bark and tree roots for medicines, because these ingredients are hard to find in the village.
Ousmane Compaoré is a farmer in his fifties who farms three-and-a-half hectares in a nearby village. He visited Mr. Ouédraogo’s farm to learn about his methods. But repeating his colleague’s success hasn’t been easy.
Mr. Compaoré says: “I was interested by what he had accomplished. There are species of trees and [forage] grasses that have disappeared in the region and that can be found here. I wanted to try this technique. But I do not have the means to build a fence.”
Farmers in this area struggle to guard newly-wooded lots from animals and other intruders.
But many small-scale farmers are unable to afford a metal fence. For a three-hectare farm, such a fence would cost more than a million CFA francs (about $1,820 US).
Mr. Ouédraogo found a solution to these threats. He dug a 60 x 40 centimetre ditch around the perimeter of his plot, where he planted thorny acacia trees to form a long-lasting and effective barrier. As the mesh fence deteriorates, this living barrier will take its place. This species of acacia produces gum arabic, which will be another source of revenue in the years to come.
Ouérmi Elijah is an agricultural expert who works with farmers in Komnongo. He says Mr. Ouédraogo’s farm is a model for soil restoration. He acknowledges that, without the subsidy to build the fence, Mr. Ouédraogo may have had more difficulty maintaining and protecting his trees. But, he adds: “He has also made a significant personal investment. Some farmers have fences but have not managed to restore the depleted soil because they have not been as committed as Mr. Ouédraogo.”
The Burkinabe government hopes to see other farmers join Mr. Ouédraogo in the fight to save the land and conserve biodiversity. Elisé Yaro is in charge of environmental and social protection for the government’s National Land Management Program. He says: “If 20 farmers can do what he did on three hectares, we’ll have 60 hectares of protected forest in this village for integrated agroforestry-pastoral production. And the economic benefits will allow farmers to thrive.”
Mr. Ouédraogo says his fight will continue. He plans to use the same techniques on ten additional hectares of arid land in order to plant trees and grow grain and fodder.
barza.fm@farmradio.org

If you have the chance look at these;
Senegal;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9y_ZMTZdxE

Kenya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siWDUoxNcAc

Tanzania
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQrtXn8_z1c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF7zEJWWuJE


Graham Knight
BioDesign

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