Journal of Plant Sciences

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Assessment of Traditional Agroforestry Practices, Benefits and Constraints: The Case of West Hararghe Zone, Oromia National Regional State, South-eastern Ethiopia

Received: 12 August 2020    Accepted: 24 August 2020    Published: 14 October 2020
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Abstract

A study was conducted in west Hararghe zone with the main objectives of understanding various traditional Agroforestry practices and to identify reasons behind practicing and to prioritize major constraints related to traditional Agroforestry practices. (18) Peasant associations in 6 rural districts were selected by multistage sampling in which 600 household heads were selected using random sampling techniques. Qualitative data were generated by conducting household survey interviews, focus group discussions, key informant interview, and direct field observations were applied to secure additional data. Data were manipulated using suitable analytical software packages to calculate descriptive statistics, including percentages and frequency. A total of 478 (79.7%) of smallholder farmers expressed interest in practicing traditional agroforestry in their farm plots, 122 (20.3%) of the total had no single practices in their farm plots. The results of this study have shown that mixed intercropping (44%), homegarden (36%), trees on cropland (31%), boundary planting (25%), trees on soil conservation (18%), multi-purpose woodlots (17%) and trees on rangeland (9%) are the common traditional agroforestry practices in the study area. The major benefits for planting tree species were for income, soil quality, food, shade, fuel wood, construction purpose, manure, fodder and medicinal purpose. On the other hand, lack of adequate seedlings availability, shortage of land, rainfall shortage, termite hazard and disease, animal browsing, shortage of labour and inadequate extension servicesare the major constraints recorded in the study areas. The study recommends the suggestions made to overcome difficulties of practicing traditional agroforestry in smallholders’ farm plots have implications for the way forwarded.

DOI 10.11648/j.jps.20200805.18
Published in Journal of Plant Sciences (Volume 8, Issue 5, October 2020)
Page(s) 158-166
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Traditional Agroforestry, Small Holder Farmers, Multipurpose Trees, Woody Species

References
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[2] Abebe, Seifu. 2000. Farmers’ private tree growing traditions and management at Wondo Genet, M. Sc Thesis, Wagningen University, The Netherlands, pp. 68.
[3] Abera, Worku. 2009. M. Sc. thesis on status of traditional agroforestry and its future Potential development as buffer zone agroforestry for the natural forest conservation in burkitu peasant association, Oromia, Ethiopia. pp 2.
[4] Abiyu, A., D. Teketay, G. Gratzer, and M. Shete. 2015. Tree planting by smallholder farmers in the upper catchment of Lake Tana watershed, northwest Ethiopia. Small-scale Forestry.
[5] Ahmed, P. 1991. Agroforestry: A viable landuse of alkali soils. Agroforestry Systems 14: 23-37.
[6] Arnold, J. E. M. 1987. “Economic considerations in agroforestry” in steppler, H. A. and Nair, P. K. eds. Agroforesty: A Decade of Development. ICRAF, Nairobi, pp. 174-190.
[7] Asfaw, Z. 2001. Origin and evolution of rural homegardens in Ethiopia. Biologiske Skrifter: Danske Videnskabers Selskab 54: 273–286.
[8] Atangana, A., Khasa, D., Chang, S., and Degrande, A. (2013). Major agroforestry systems of the humid tropics. In "Tropical Agroforestry", 49-93.
[9] Berhane Kidane, Mehari Alebachew, Kassahun Bekele, Kindu Mekonnen, Laura A German (2008). Participatory Tree Nursery Management and Tree Planting: Experiences from Gallessa Watershed, Dendi District, Western Shewa zone of the Oromia Region, Ethiopia.
[10] Bishaw, B., and A. Abdelkadir. 2003. Agroforestry and Community Forestry for Rehabilitation of Degraded Watersheds on the Ethiopian Highlands. International Symposium on Contemporary Development Issues in Ethiopia, July 11–12, 2003, Addis.
[11] Christiaensen, L., Demery, L., and Kuhl, J. (2011). The evolving role of agriculture in poverty reduction-an empirical perspective. Development Economics, 96, 239-254.
[12] CSA (Central Statistical Authority), 2007. Population and Housing Census Survey, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 121p.
[13] Dechasa, Jiru. 1990. Current Agroforestry Systems in Ethiopia, Proc. 2nd NRC conference, pp 181-185.
[14] Hachoofwe, E. M. 2008. Local ecological knowledge of trees on farms, constraints and opportunities for further integration in Tigray Region, northern Ethiopia: A case study of smallholder farmers in Abreha Wa Atsbeha and Adi gudom. MSc thesis, Te Copperbelt University, Kitwe, Zambia.
[15] Israel, G. D. 2013. Determining sample size. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdfles/PD/PD00600.pdf.
[16] Kebede, T. M. (2010). Homegardens agrobiodiversity conservation in Sebeta-Hawas Wereda, Southwestern Shewa Zone of Oromia Region, Ethiopia.
[17] Mehari Alebachew (2012). Traditional Agroforestry practices, opportunities, threats and research needs in the highlands of Oromia, Central Ethiopia.
[18] Miller, R. P., and Nair, P. K. R. (2006). Indigenous agroforestry systems in Amazonia: from prehistory to today. Agroforestry Systems 66, 151-164.
[19] Mohammad I, Asadullah K, Mitsuhiro I, Muhammad A, Hassan S (2011) Identifying factors affecting agroforestry system in Swat, Pakistan. African Journal of Agricultural Research, 6: 2586-2593.
[20] Nair, P. K. 1993. An introduction to Agroforestry: pp 13-155, ICRAF/Kluwers Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.
[21] Negash, M., and N. Achalu. 2008. History of indigenous agro-forestry in Gedeo, Southern Ethiopia, based on local community interviews: Vegetation diversity and stucture in the land-use systems. http://agris.fao.org/aos/records/ET2009000185.
[22] Tefera, B., M. L. Ruelle, Z. Asfaw, and B. A. Tsegay. 2014. Woody plant diversity in an Afromontane agricultural landscape (Debark District, northern Ethiopia). Forests, Trees and Livelihoods 23 (4): 261–279. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1 4728028.2014.942709.
[23] Tesfaye A. (2005), "Diversity in homegarden agroforestry systems of Southern Ethiopia," Dissertation, Wageningen University The Netherlands, 2005.
[24] WHZBOFED (West Harerghe Zone Finance and Economic Development Office), 2010. Annual Report. 54 p.
[25] World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) (2006) Agroforestry for improved livelihoods and Natural resources conservation. An Agroforestry Policy Brief. Kenya, Nairobi.
Author Information
  • College of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, Oda Bultum University, Chiro, Ethiopia

  • College of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, Oda Bultum University, Chiro, Ethiopia

  • College of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, Oda Bultum University, Chiro, Ethiopia

  • College of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, Oda Bultum University, Chiro, Ethiopia

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    Husen Yusuf, Alemeyehu Beyene, Muktar Reshad, Mangistu Teshoma. (2020). Assessment of Traditional Agroforestry Practices, Benefits and Constraints: The Case of West Hararghe Zone, Oromia National Regional State, South-eastern Ethiopia. Journal of Plant Sciences, 8(5), 158-166. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jps.20200805.18

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    ACS Style

    Husen Yusuf; Alemeyehu Beyene; Muktar Reshad; Mangistu Teshoma. Assessment of Traditional Agroforestry Practices, Benefits and Constraints: The Case of West Hararghe Zone, Oromia National Regional State, South-eastern Ethiopia. J. Plant Sci. 2020, 8(5), 158-166. doi: 10.11648/j.jps.20200805.18

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    AMA Style

    Husen Yusuf, Alemeyehu Beyene, Muktar Reshad, Mangistu Teshoma. Assessment of Traditional Agroforestry Practices, Benefits and Constraints: The Case of West Hararghe Zone, Oromia National Regional State, South-eastern Ethiopia. J Plant Sci. 2020;8(5):158-166. doi: 10.11648/j.jps.20200805.18

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  • @article{10.11648/j.jps.20200805.18,
      author = {Husen Yusuf and Alemeyehu Beyene and Muktar Reshad and Mangistu Teshoma},
      title = {Assessment of Traditional Agroforestry Practices, Benefits and Constraints: The Case of West Hararghe Zone, Oromia National Regional State, South-eastern Ethiopia},
      journal = {Journal of Plant Sciences},
      volume = {8},
      number = {5},
      pages = {158-166},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jps.20200805.18},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jps.20200805.18},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jps.20200805.18},
      abstract = {A study was conducted in west Hararghe zone with the main objectives of understanding various traditional Agroforestry practices and to identify reasons behind practicing and to prioritize major constraints related to traditional Agroforestry practices. (18) Peasant associations in 6 rural districts were selected by multistage sampling in which 600 household heads were selected using random sampling techniques. Qualitative data were generated by conducting household survey interviews, focus group discussions, key informant interview, and direct field observations were applied to secure additional data. Data were manipulated using suitable analytical software packages to calculate descriptive statistics, including percentages and frequency. A total of 478 (79.7%) of smallholder farmers expressed interest in practicing traditional agroforestry in their farm plots, 122 (20.3%) of the total had no single practices in their farm plots. The results of this study have shown that mixed intercropping (44%), homegarden (36%), trees on cropland (31%), boundary planting (25%), trees on soil conservation (18%), multi-purpose woodlots (17%) and trees on rangeland (9%) are the common traditional agroforestry practices in the study area. The major benefits for planting tree species were for income, soil quality, food, shade, fuel wood, construction purpose, manure, fodder and medicinal purpose. On the other hand, lack of adequate seedlings availability, shortage of land, rainfall shortage, termite hazard and disease, animal browsing, shortage of labour and inadequate extension servicesare the major constraints recorded in the study areas. The study recommends the suggestions made to overcome difficulties of practicing traditional agroforestry in smallholders’ farm plots have implications for the way forwarded.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Assessment of Traditional Agroforestry Practices, Benefits and Constraints: The Case of West Hararghe Zone, Oromia National Regional State, South-eastern Ethiopia
    AU  - Husen Yusuf
    AU  - Alemeyehu Beyene
    AU  - Muktar Reshad
    AU  - Mangistu Teshoma
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    JF  - Journal of Plant Sciences
    JO  - Journal of Plant Sciences
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    EP  - 166
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2331-0731
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jps.20200805.18
    AB  - A study was conducted in west Hararghe zone with the main objectives of understanding various traditional Agroforestry practices and to identify reasons behind practicing and to prioritize major constraints related to traditional Agroforestry practices. (18) Peasant associations in 6 rural districts were selected by multistage sampling in which 600 household heads were selected using random sampling techniques. Qualitative data were generated by conducting household survey interviews, focus group discussions, key informant interview, and direct field observations were applied to secure additional data. Data were manipulated using suitable analytical software packages to calculate descriptive statistics, including percentages and frequency. A total of 478 (79.7%) of smallholder farmers expressed interest in practicing traditional agroforestry in their farm plots, 122 (20.3%) of the total had no single practices in their farm plots. The results of this study have shown that mixed intercropping (44%), homegarden (36%), trees on cropland (31%), boundary planting (25%), trees on soil conservation (18%), multi-purpose woodlots (17%) and trees on rangeland (9%) are the common traditional agroforestry practices in the study area. The major benefits for planting tree species were for income, soil quality, food, shade, fuel wood, construction purpose, manure, fodder and medicinal purpose. On the other hand, lack of adequate seedlings availability, shortage of land, rainfall shortage, termite hazard and disease, animal browsing, shortage of labour and inadequate extension servicesare the major constraints recorded in the study areas. The study recommends the suggestions made to overcome difficulties of practicing traditional agroforestry in smallholders’ farm plots have implications for the way forwarded.
    VL  - 8
    IS  - 5
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