Agroforestry - integrating trees and other perennials into farming systems for the benefit of farm families and the environment - is an ancient practice that was moved from the realm of indigenous knowledge into agricultural research only about 25 years ago (Bene et al., 1977). During the 1980s, Agroforestry was promoted widely as a sustainability-enhancing practice with great potential to increase crop yields, conserve soil and recycle nutrients, while producing fuelwood, fodder, fruit and timber (e.g., Steppler and Nair, 1987; Nair, 1989). At the time Agroforestry was considered almost a panacea for solving land-use problems in the tropics. Many development projects pushed agroforestry technologies without the backing of solid research. During the past decade, however, Agroforestry studies have become more empirical, based on process-oriented research (Sanchez 1995; Young 1997, Buck et al., 1999).
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4314/eaafj.v65i1.1751Altmetric score:
Dimensions Citation Count:
Publication year
1999
Authors
Language
English
Keywords
agroforestry, phosphorus, research, soil fertility, technology transfer
Geographic
Kenya
