Nurseries of excellence in Aceh: Foundation Germplasm for Agroforestry Systems

The Rehabilitation of Agricultural Systems in Aceh - Developing Nurseries of Excellence (NOEL) Program is implemented by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) with assistance from Winrock International and local partners, through support from the Government of Canada as represented by the Minister of International Cooperation, acting through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The objective of the Project is to empower smallholder farmers (both men and women) to gain access to high quality planting materials and provide them with the skills necessary to establish and operate agroforestry tree nurseries. Participants will range from individual smallholders and community groups wanting to improve their livelihoods and rehabilitate their lands by growing more productive tree crops, to families or small groups who are motivated to establish local commercial nursery operations. The purpose of the Project is to rebuild and strengthen farmers' livelihoods and rehabilitate their lands by growing more productive tree crops. Since April 2007, the success and achievement of the NOEL Program has been excellent. As of December 2007, 31 nursery training courses have been conducted, training 850 partners another 270 partners have received additional informal training. Overall, 27% of trainees are female. These capacity building efforts have resulted in the establishment of 39 nurseries of excellence of various sizes with a stocking of over 750,000 quality seedlings. A market study for smallholder agroforestry products was completed and 6 student research studies have been initiated. Enthusiasm for the Program is high among by partners and stakeholders.

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