Scaling up of agroforestry technologies for smallholder development in the marginal areas of Tabora and Shinyanga in Tanzania

In order to improve household nutrition, income and reduce environmental degradation in miombo areas, there is need to provide rural farmers with opportunities, through training, provision of appropriate planting materials and information on markets and integrated farming methods. Tanzania farmers are increasingly unable to provide sufficient food and cash income to satisfy basic family and community needs. The smallholder farmers meet their needs by clearing virgin miombo woodlands and cultivate crops in the rich soil underneath it. The crops yields are high in the freshly cleared fields; continuous cropping over years leads to soil fertility decline resulting in low crop yields. The farmers then continue to clear new areas to sustain their livelihoods, which result in the deforestation of the miombo woodlands. Tanzania Agroforestry Project started in Tabora and Shinyanga in 1986 and 1991 respectively. The purpose of the project is to integrate agroforestry technologies into smallholder farms in order to improve living standards of small scale, resource poor farmers by increasing agricultural production and conserving the environment through scaling up adoption of agroforestry technologies and innovations. The project uses participatory approaches and works directly with farmers and policy makers, in addition the project pursues strategies which “scale out” agroforestry adoption by training, supporting and networking with partner organizations. The project has developed viable agroforestry technologies that include rotational woodlot technology using indigenous and exotic tree species, especially Australian acacias, which has been widely accepted in Tanzania. The second most widespread innovation has been improved fallows with nitrogen-fixing leguminous trees, such as Sesbania sesban and Gliricidia sepium intercropped with maize to improve soil fertility and maize yields. Fodder bank technology based on supplementary feeding has been well accepted and is well suited to small-scale dairy farmers who have improved breeds of dairy cattle. The domestication and commercialization of indigenous fruits and medicinal trees is an emerging industry for Tanzania with the highest diversity of indigenous fruits. These fruits are edible and rich in sugars and vitamins. Farmers; are now processing indigenous fruits into products like, jam juice and wine. ICRAF is promoting the domestication of indigenous fruits along with the popular exotics like improved mangoes, guavas, passion fruits and oranges, and has embarked on post harvest and processing by training women and other local entrepreneurs in product development and marketing. This will contribute to food security, poverty alleviation and conserving biodiversity. This component has direct relevance to nutrition and HIV/AIDS as well as empowerment of women and development of entrepreneurship at community level. Germplasm availability to farmers is a critical factor in scaling up of the above agroforestry innovations. ICRAF is identifying farmers' seed-production methods and is establishing seed orchards of the different species in Tanzania. It is anticipated that these agroforestry practices will be adopted by at least 100,000 farmers across Tanzania by the end of this project period in 2006 and that by improving productivity on the farms best suited for agriculture it will help protect the miombo’s forests, grasslands, wildlife habitats and watersheds. This paper describes the different participatory approaches, mechanisms and achievements with partners in scaling up/out these agroforestry practices in the marginal areas of Tabora and Shinyanga regions in Tanzania.

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