Crop production in Sub-Saharan Africa is vulnerable to erratic rainfall and declining soil fertility. Because the benefits of agroforestry are often related to total tree biomass, drought and excessive rains may influence the success and resilience of agroforestry interventions. In recent years, crop production in the region has been severely affected by a series of droughts followed by flooding during the 1998 El Nino rains. An important question is how resilient are agroforestry systems to such conditions Unfortunately, this question cannot easily be addressed using biophysical experiments in multi-locational trials.
Publication year
1999
Authors
Magembe J A; Ong C K; Chirwa P W; Black C R
Language
English
Keywords
agroforestry, cajanus cajan, gliricidia sepium, green manures, leaching, nitrogen, soil water, zea mays
Geographic
Malawi
