It has been widely documented that the traditional farming system of shift- ing cultivation contributes to huge annual losses of forest cover, altering the structure and distribution of species resulting in loss of biodiversity. On the other hand, formal institutional approaches to natural forest biodiversity con- servation focused on protecting the tree species in parks and reserves while neglecting their conservation in farming systems. Improved agroforestry sys- tems (AFS) such as improved fallows that mimic shifting cultivation and other AFS provide benefits that contribute to rural livelihoods, improved socio- economic status and ecosystem functioning of land use systems. Recently, there is an increasing recognition of the contribution of agroforestry to im- prove ecosystem services and livelihoods especially in rural areas. Compared with subsistence agriculture, AFS provides added benefit by generating cash income from the marketing of diverse products. In southern Africa, research that aims to addressed biodiversity and socio-economic issues includes domes- tication of diverse priority indigenous fruit tree species; and the evaluation of soil fertility replenishing Agroforestry technologies. This paper discusses the contribution of the natural forest resource and AFS to the improvement of the socio-economic livelihoods of smallholder farmers and the promotion of the conservation of biodiversity drawing on evidence from research conducted in southern Africa over the last two decades.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-00493-3_22Altmetric score:
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Publication year
2010
Authors
Kanungwe F K; Chirwa P W; Syampungani S; Ajayi, O.C.
Language
English
Keywords
agroforestry, biodiversity, improvement, rural communities, livelihoods, food security
Geographic
Malawi, Zambia
