Agroforestry in Madagascar: past, present, and future

Andriatsitohaina, R. Ntsiva N.; Laby, Patrick; Llopis Sendino, Jorge C.; Martin, Dominic A. (2024). Agroforestry in Madagascar: past, present, and future. Agroforestry systems Springer 10.1007/s10457-024-00975-y

[img]
Preview
Text (Agroforestry in Madagascar: past, present, and future)
Andriatsitohaina_et-al_2024_Agroforestry_in_Madagascar__past__present__and_future.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY).

Download (3MB) | Preview

Agroforestry systems promise a high multifunctionality providing cash and subsistence yields as well as other ecosystem services. Such land systems may be particularly promising for smallholders in tropical landscapes due to high labour intensity and productivity on limited land. Focusing on Madagascar, we here describe the history of agroforestry in the country and review the current literature on agroforestry outcomes as well as factors promoting and hindering agroforest establishment and maintenance. From this, we discuss the potential future of agroforestry in Madagascar. Historically, many crops farmed today in agroforestry systems were originally introduced as plantation crops, mostly in the nineteenth century. Since then, people co-opted these crops into mixed agroforestry systems, often focusing on clove, vanilla, coffee, or cocoa in combination with fruit trees or, for clove, with livestock. Other crops are also integrated, but shares are comparatively low. Overall, 27.4% of Malagasy exports are crops typically farmed in agroforestry systems, providing income for at least 500,000 farmers. Outcomes of agroforestry for biodiversity and ecosystem services are commonly researched, showing benefits over annual crops and monocultures. Social-economic outcomes, including yields, are more scarcely researched, but findings point towards financial benefits for smallholder farmers and a sense of community and collective memory. However, findings emphasize that research gaps remain in terms of geographic and crop coverage, also for ecological outcomes. Looking to the future, we highlight the need to overcome hurdles such as land tenure insecurity, financial barriers to implementation, and unstable value chains to scale agroforestry in Madagascar to the benefit of multifunctional land systems and human wellbeing.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Plant Sciences (IPS)
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Plant Sciences (IPS) > Plant Ecology
10 Strategic Research Centers > Centre for Development and Environment (CDE)

UniBE Contributor:

Llopis, Jorge Claudio (B), Martin, Dominic Andreas

Subjects:

500 Science > 580 Plants (Botany)

ISSN:

0167-4366

Publisher:

Springer

Projects:

[803] Cluster: Land Resources

Language:

English

Submitter:

Melchior Peter Nussbaumer

Date Deposited:

13 May 2024 15:37

Last Modified:

13 May 2024 15:37

Publisher DOI:

10.1007/s10457-024-00975-y

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/196722

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/196722

Actions (login required)

Edit item Edit item
Provide Feedback