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China expert urges Africa to embrace agroforestry to sustain livelihood

25 August 2009, Xinhua
URL: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-08/25/content_11938058.htm

Nairobi:   A Chinese expert on Monday called on African countries to encourage small-scale farmers to embrace agroforestry policies to sustain environments and livelihoods. Xu Jianchu, the Chinese Country Representative to the Nairobi-based World Agroforestry Centre said growing trees among crops could sustain both environments and livelihoods in Africa.  "We have a program in China to promote agroforestry linked to the government policies. The government has a land composition program which encourages farmers to plant trees on farms for the benefits of farmers," Xu told Xinhua on the sidelines of the second World Congress on Agroforestry in Nairobi.

He called on the African governments to assist small scale farmers to embrace agroforestry, noting that developing countries' quest for food security through agricultural expansion often leads to deforestation and forest degradation.  "The Chinese government also provides huge subsidies to farmers who would like to sacrifice their farmland for their lasting benefit," he said.

Xu who is representing the Chinese government at the center said the second World Congress on Agroforestry which kicked off in Nairobi on Monday would provide him with unique opportunities to learn from African countries on how they incorporate trees on farms for multipurpose, for control of soil erosion and other natural hazards like landslides. He said the variance between conserving environments and improving livelihoods is constricting efforts for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) in Sub-Saharan Africa.

But he said agroforestry -- managing trees with agricultural production -- could help. He said tree-based systems are much better at accumulating carbon, above and below ground, than pure agriculture.     Xu said the main challenge for Africa is how to design agricultural landscapes to resolve livelihood-environment conflict and maintain forests' ecosystem benefits such as water storage, erosion control, biodiversity conservation and soil rehabilitation.  "Africa has a very large degraded land and that China can learn from African countries how many trees are being planted in the degraded landscape and what is the requirement benefits and also how to link the local livelihoods," he said in the interview.

"I also hope that Africa can learn from the Chinese experience in mobilizing local farmers to plant trees on farms," said the Chinese expert.   Xu said the way forward is to integrate climate and livelihood, adaptation and mitigation, REDD and agriculture.      The Chinese expert said integrating trees into agricultural landscapes on a massive scale would create an effective carbon sink while ensuring sustainable food production, and would also help adapt to climate change in other ways.

"I look forward to learn from this conference how agroforestry is linked to climate change because agroforestry is a unique land use practice which can combine the climate adaptation and also contribute to climate change mitigation," he said.

Agriculture, deforestation and other forms of land use account for nearly one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. With just a few months to go until the crucial UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, agricultural and environmental experts agree that all forms of land use should be included in a post-Kyoto climate regime.  According to a UNEP report, the agricultural sector could be largely carbon neutral by 2030 and produce enough food for a population estimated to grow to 9 billion by 2050, if proven methods aimed at reducing emissions from agriculture were widely adopted today.     Key among these methods are agroforestry, reduced cultivation of the soil, and the use of natural nutrients such as fertilizer trees.

Xu said carbon off-setting schemes such as REDD could both improve the environment and generate income.  He believed that the sustainable landscape of the future in Africa will have to be tree-based to guarantee achieving the dual goals of sustainable livelihoods and environments.     "The African governments are lacking policies and financial support to farmers to embrace agroforestry but we must urge policymakers to recognize agroforestry as an important solution for climate change problems and food insecurity."

"The developed countries should support African farmers. They should also support decision making process if African countries have also to support their small scale farmers to enable them benefit from agroforestry," Xu added.