Vol. 3, Issue 1, pp. 1-5, June, 2019 http://ojs.univ-tlemcen.dz/index.php/AFJ/ E-ISSN 2602-5795 Published by university of Tlemcen - ALGERIA
Contribution of agroforestry to improving food security in the sagnarigu
district of northern Ghana
Ammal ABUKARI
Department of Forestry and Forest Resources Management, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, University for Development Studies – Tamale, Ghana. Email: aammal@uds.edu.gh
A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T
Article history: Received: 11 March 2019 Accepted after corrections 20 May 2019 Keywords: Adoption, Agroforestry, Technology, Food security, Livelihood.
In most sub-Sahara African (SSA) countries there are increasing demands for the use of agricultural land and forest products. This results in the deterioration of agricultural productivity and the degradation of agricultural lands. Technologies in Agroforestry (AF) have been recommended in the tropics as one of the answers to productivity and the shortage of land owing to both forestry and agricultural products as a potential of agroforestry. The rate of agroforestry technologies adoption is not promising in Ghana although interventions of agroforestry have been practiced for many years. Limited and little education on the technology’s ability to improve food security, decline poverty, and its socio-economics has led to its less adoption. This survey is however conducted in the Sagnarigu district of northern Ghana to determine the factors that influences the rate of adoption of agroforestry technologies and how agroforestry has the potential to contribute to food security. Data were collected by the use of questionnaire administration, group discussion and the use of key informants. The research revealed that there are high crop yields, available wood products for fuelwood and poles, and improved food security of households when agroforestry technologies were adopted. This research however recommends that agroforestry strategies should be used for improving food security and livelihood among the rural folks and should be strengthened.
1. Introduction
In Ghana agriculture is an important cradle of livelihood of majority of rural folks. These farmers accomplish their farm endeavors using ancient approaches. The efficiency of these ancient approaches to production are largely low and this results to low living standards of the rural folks. Additionally, lack of up-to-date knowledge of farming approaches to farmers has been a contributory factor of low productivity to agricultural land. This is triggered by the dependency of farmers on cash crops in the rural areas, lack of stable market prices and production of annual crops. According to Katani (1999) the result of excessive pressure on agricultural lands has led to soil erosion, overgrazing, scarcity of woody materials and cultivation in marginal land. Agroforestry is defined as a dynamic, ecologically based natural resource management system that, through the integration of trees on farms and in the agricultural landscape, diversifies and sustains production for increased social, economic and environmental benefits for land-users at all levels (Leakey, 1996). Agroforestry is commonly beseeched as key to problems associated to the degradation of land, deforestation, scarcity of wood materials and low crop yields. Agroforestry has been recommended to improve food security and also reduces poverty levels among rural folks; the significance and degree of adoption among many rural folks in Ghana have not been widely understood. Agroforestry technologies are expected to be a multipurpose land use system and has been recommended as the answer to accomplish sustainability and the present land use management payable to its numerous benefits comprising; conservation of soil fertility, fuelwoods and building materials, soil erosion control, increasing crop yields, increasing income, fruits and fodder (Senkondo, 1994). Agroforestry is not entirely practiced in numerous rural areas of Ghana despite all its potential.
Accounts from Thangataa and Hildebrand (2012) submit that the practice of agroforestry by farmers presents a lot of benefits such as the augmentation of soil fertility and the improvement of the flexibility of farm households through the delivery of extra outputs either for sale and or consumption. The understanding that trees on farmlands affords livelihood benefits is not new, and diversity-based methods to agricultural adaptation to climate variability have been adopted by many farmers (Nguyen et al., 2013). In many parts of Africa the adoption of agroforestry technologies has not been prevalent, owing to the performance of agroforestry practices, political and socioeconomic environment.
Many agroforestry practices researches have revealed that agroforestry can improve degraded lands, sequester carbon and secure rural folks livelihoods through the supply of ecological and economic benefits. Additionally the increase of soil fertility, tree management by farmers provides ecosystem services and functions
increase food security by means of profitable management procedures. Several agroforestry technologies provides options to achieve low external input requirements, high recycling rates and crop-livestock integration (Altieri et al., 2012). Accordingly a viable possibility for smallholder folks with inadequate resources.
There are little or no information on the influence of agroforestry on food security and possibly its adoption and this causes a major research challenge. For this there is a need conducting studies that determine the factors that leads to the low patronage of agroforestry technologies adoption and how agroforestry aids in improving food security.
2. Materials and Methods
The study was carried out in rural areas of the Sagnarigu district in Northern Region of Ghana which lies between latitudes 9º 16’ and 9º 34’ north and longitudes 0º 36’ and 0º 57’ west. Agriculture is a dominant economic activity. The district faces a serious threat of land degradation, deforestation, declined agricultural crop productivity and shortage of feeds for livestock production (Ghana Statistical Service, 2012). Three (3) rural villages namely; Wovogu, Kulaa and Taha were randomly selected based on the type of agroforestry system practiced in the area as a revenue for income generation at household level. The target population for this study was all farmers in the Sagnarigu district. Reconnaissance survey was conducted in each identified village and village leaders were used to identify the participating households. The population of the district is 148 099 (GSS, 2010).
Eighty- three (83) households in each selected village were randomly selected. The total sample size of 249 households was surveyed from three villages, in the Sagnarigu district.
Data were collected using an administration of questionnaire, key informants such as village leaders, forest and natural resource officers. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency tables and percentiles. The adoption rate of agroforestry technologies were determined by the number of technologies adopted divided by the overall number of technologies conveyed expressed in percentage (Ajayi, 2006).
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Agroforestry technologies adoption in Sagnarigu district
Table 1 summarizes the distribution of respondents according to number of agroforestry technologies adopted.
Table 1. Distribution of respondents according to number of agroforestry technologies adopted
Source: Field data, 2015
The Table 1 reveals that the three (3) communities in the Sagnarigu district have about 18.0%, 18.7%, 31.14%, and 32.23% of the household adopting 4, 10, 6, and 3 agroforestry technologies respectively. The common (32.23%) of the farmers adopted 3 agroforestry technologies. The average number of agroforestry technologies adopted by farmers in the district is 5.273 (approximately 5) whereas the average rate agroforestry technologies adoption is 105.46% indicating that the adoption of technologies by farmers in the district is very satisfactory. The possible reason for the adoption of agroforestry technologies in the Sagnarigu district of Ghana could be due to farmer’s awareness of the technology and the education of farmers on agroforestry technologies by agriculture extension agents.
3.2. Categories of agroforestry technologies adopted among farmers in Sagnarigu district
Table 2 highlights the results of Frequencies and Percentages of respondents according to agroforestry technology categories adopted by farmers in Sagnarigu District.
Number of Adopted Technologies Frequency Percentage (%)
4 45 17.95
3 85 32.23
10 41 18.68
6 78 31.14
Total 249 100
Average number of technologies adopted 5.273
Table 2. Categories of agroforestry technologies adopted by farmers in Sagnarigu district
Category Wovogu Kulaa Taha Total
Boundary 20a (24.01)b 18 (21.69) 16 (19.28) 54 (21.69) Scattered 35 (42.17) 29 (34.94) 18 (57.83) 112 (44.98) Homegarden 12 (14.46) 16 (19.28) 6 (7.23) 34 (13.65) Alley cropping 9 (10.84) 11 (13.25) 7 (8.44) 27 (10.84) Shelterbelt 7 (8.43) 9 (10.84) 6 (7.23) 22 (8.84) Total 83 (100) 83 (100) 83 (100) 249 (100)
a Frequency and b Percentage Respondents Source: Field data, 2015
The results in the Table 2 showed that the common agroforestry technology practiced among the three rural communities in the Sagnarigu district were scattered (44.98%), boundary (21.69%), homegarden (13.65%), alley cropping (10.84%) and shelterbelts (8.84%) respectively. This indicates that farmers adopted the scattered type of agroforestry technology. This could be attributed to the fact that farmers have long been practicing the system and it does not require high cost of production. The boundary type of agroforestry technology was the second commonly adopted by farmers in the district and this might also be due to the low cost of production which collaborates with Orisakwe and Agomuo (2011).
3.3. Factors influencing adoption of agroforestry technologies in Sagnarigu districts
The data in figure 1 shows the results of key factors influencing the adoption of agroforestry technologies in the Sagnarigu district of Ghana. The main factors that influence farmers in the district to adopt a technology were land ownership, soil fertility, capital, availability of labour, access to extension agents and scarcity of fuelwood. The introduction of trees in farmlands were mainly to replenish soil fertility. The study reveals that the adoption of an agroforestry technology depends on issues of low productivity of land and clearly shows that the introduction of trees by farmers in farms is mainly to restock soil fertility to increase crop production.
Figure 1. Factors influencing adoption of agroforestry technologies in Sagnarigu districts ( Field data, 2015)
3.4. Benefits of multipurpose trees/shrubs in agroforestry technologies
Some of the tree species grown by the farmers and their uses are shown in Table 3.
Of the table3, it can be seen that fuelwood and soil fertility improvement are the common uses for trees/shrubs planted in the area. According to the statement of Kajembe and Luoga (1996), benefits such as improved household wellbeing, soil and water conservation and farm productivity as well as availability of woody materials can influence the adoption of the agroforestry technologies by smallholder farmers.
Also the assertion of Pfeiffer (1990) reveals that agroforestry technologies have numerous outputs and are complex agricultural systems. Consequently agroforestry technologies has multiplicity of outcomes such as improved food security, increased income and ecologically stabilized system particularly in subsistence farming. Farmers in the Sagnarigu districts indicated that a lot of benefits are derived from practicing agroforestry.
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 Land ownership
Soil fertility Capital Availabilty
of labour Access to extension agents Scarcity of fuelwood Factors of agroforestry technology
N u m b er o f fa m er s Wovogu Kulaa Taha
Table 3. Some multipurpose tree/shrub species and their uses in Sagnarigu district
TREE/ SHRUBS SPECIES USES
Albizia lebbeck Fuelwood, poles, soil fertility improvement, shelterbelt
Azadiracta indica Fuelwood, poles, shades
Gliricidia sepium Soil fertility improvement, poles, fodder, fuelwood
Carica papaya Fruits
Butyrospermum parkii Fuelwood, shade, fodder, soil improvement
Leucaena leucocephala Soil improvement, fodder, shade, windbreaks
Tectona grandis Live fencing, fuelwood, shade, rafters, posts, windbreak
Parkia biglobosa Fuelwood, soil improvement, fruits, shade, human medicine
Psidium guajava Fruits, fuelwood, soil improvement
Mangifera indica Fruits, fodder, windbreak, shade, soil improvement
Anacadium occidentale Fodder, fuelwood, shade, windbreak, tannins, gum, dye
Moringa oleifera Fuelwood, soil improvement, windbreak, fruits, live fencing
Dalbergia sissoo Soil improvement
Balanites aegypiaca Soil improvement, fruits, poles
Acacia albida Soil improvement
Blighia sapida Fuelwood, fruits, shade
Diospyros mespilliformis Fuelwood, windbreak, shade, soil improvement, fodder
Ficus capensis Windbreak, fuelwood, soil improvement, fruits, shade
Pithecellobium dulce Soil improvement, live fencing, fodder, windbreak
Pterocarpus erinaceous Live fencing, soil improvement, fodder, fuelwood, shade
Tamarindus indica Soil improvement, windbreak, shade
Ceiba pentandra Soil improvement, fuelwood, shade, live fencing
Mangifera indica Fuelwood, fodder, shade, fruits, windbreak
Khaya senegalensis Live fencing, soil improvement, windbreak, fuelwood
Source: Field data, 2015
3.5. Agroforestry and the production of crops in the Sagnarigu district
The figure 2 illustrates the results before and after adoption of agroforestry technologies in the Sagnarigu district.
Figure 2. Before and after adoption of agroforestry technologies in the Sagnarigu district ( Field data, 2015)
Agroforestry technologies in the study area have the characteristics to improve soil fertility due to its nutrients recycling and nitrogen fixing ability resulting to a significant increase in crop yields amongst farmers. The results of the study indicates that maize yields were significantly different (p<0.05) between before and after adoption of agroforestry technologies among farmers (Fig. 2). The results confirms that before farmers adopted agroforestry technologies, the average yield of maize per acre in the season of cropping ranges from 359 kg for Kulaa community to 377 kg in the Taha community with an overall average of 368 kg. After the adoption of agroforestry technologies predominantly in alley cropping the average maize yield per acre in a cropping season was between 664 and 786 kg with an overall average yield of maize 708 kg. The increase in crop production were influenced by the degree of soil fertility which also corroborates the results of Mbwambo (Mbwambo et al., 2013). 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 3 0 0 4 0 0 5 0 0 6 0 0 7 0 0 8 0 0 9 0 0 b efo re after
B efo re an d after ad o p tio n o f ag ro fo restry tech n o lo gies
A v er ag e m ai z e y ie ld ( k g /h a) W o v o gu K u laa T ah a
The statement of Young (1989) suggest that nitrogen fixing trees e.g. Leucaena leucocephala have the ability to fix about 50 to 100 kg/ha of nitrogen and returns nitrogen to the soil through litter fall and pruning amounting to as high as 100 to 300 kg/ha/year of nitrogen nutrient.
The yields of maize in the communities achieved by the farmers after comparing the before and after adoption of agroforestry technologies indicates the possibility of improve livelihood of rural folks owing to the expediency of maize as their essential food. The production of crops and agroforestry keeps low input cost which are available to the rural folks in the community.
4. Conclusion
The investigation reveals that farmers can easily adopt agroforestry practices in the district when support by the government or NGOs are very effective. Maize grain yield were improved significantly via agroforestry practices among farmers in the district and thus improved food security among farmers in the communities. The study also shows that multiple benefits are derived from the agroforestry practices such as fuel wood, improved soil fertility and fruits etc which elevates the livelihood of smallholder farmers in the district.
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Please cite this Article as:
ABUKARI A., 2019. Contribution of agroforestry to improving food security in the sagnarigu district of northern Ghana. Agric. For. J., 3 (1): 1-5.
