Rubber Agroforestry: perspectives for smallholdings in Nigeria

Forty-four per cent of the world’s rubber comes from natural rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) while the remaining 56% comprise synthetic rubber from the petrochemical industry. Natural rubber is a key product in tropical regions, and 80% of the world’s production of latex comes from smallholders. Cultivation of rubber has been carried out at the expense of two other main cash crops, coffee and cocoa, and this has led to strong competition for access to land. The increasing demand for natural rubber calls for the expansion of land under rubber cultivation and the need for their sustenance. The Rubber Agroforestry System (RAFS) is an innovative approach to improve the lives of smallholders by developing and promoting model farms with quality planting materials of high yielding rubber clones to meet farmers’ requirements. This system also creates opportunities for income enhancement through integration of arable crops on the inter-rows during the immature phase of rubber. It also promotes the development of alternative livelihood options through the production of planting materials of domesticated high-value agroforestry tree crops and mini-livestock in matured plantations.

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