A recent assessment carried out by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) shows that planting trees that improve soil quality can help boost crop yields for African farmers. The paper also claims that fertilizer tree systems (FTS) help boost food security and play a role in “climate proofing” the region’s arable land.
“In Africa, it is generally agreed that poor soil management, along with poor water management, is most greatly affecting yields,” explained co-author Frank Place, head of the Centre’s Impact Assessment team, during a recent BBC News interview.
He said that despite chemical fertilizers having been on the market for more than half a century, farmers appeared reluctant or unable to buy them.
“Therefore, there have been a lot of attempts to bring in other types of nutrients from other systems, such as livestock and plants. We have been working quite a lot on what is broadly referred to as ‘fertilizer tree systems’.”
Although it has been known for centuries that certain plants, such as legumes, “fix” nitrogen in the soil and boost food crop yields, Dr Place said that the Center’s researchers had been looking to develop a more active management approach such as FTS.
“Some of the studies have shown that in FTS across Africa as a whole, yields are doubling or more in two-thirds of cases.”
Read the full interview here
Photo credit: World Agroforestry Centre