FOOD SECURITY AND WATER IN AFRICA’S DRYLANDS

A dense stand of Piliostigma reticulatum on fields in the Konni department of Niger (January 2012).Their pods are good fodder for livestock and also serve as famine food. They are perceived to improve soil fertility. In the background a number of trees, which have been pruned and developed a trunk and a canopy. In the foreground very young and dense Piliostigma bushes that capture a lot of fine and fertile dust moved by the harmattan winds.

The international media are drawing our attention to the food crisis, which is emerging in the Sahel. They express the fear that the Sahel is facing a crisis similar to the one recently experienced in the Horn of Africa. The 2011 rainy season in the Sahel was characterized by low and irregular rainfall and in some regions also by crop pests. In November 2011 it was estimated that Niger alone would have a food deficit of almost 600,000 ton. The indication is that not all areas in Niger are equally affected by shortages in cereal production. A map produced by the Famine Early Warning Systems (FEWS) in September 2011 indicated that the predicted shortages seemed to be less severe in some areas of Southern Niger with high density on-farm trees.

Using some funds from the International Fund for Agricultural Development available for developing a national policy dialogue around re-greening, two researchers from the University of Niamey (Prof. Yamba Boubacar and Mr. Sambo) undertook a quick study in five villages in the Kantché department (Southern Zinder) to look at re-greening and food security. On February 24 they forwarded a first draft report. They did a survey among 197 farm households, but they also looked at some national statistics. Let’s start with the latter. The data of the National Committee for the Prevention and Management of Food Crises and the Famine Early Warning Systems in Niger indicate that the Kantché Department (350,000 inhabitants) systematically produced a cereal surplus since 2007 and also in 2011.

2007 + 21,230 ton
2008 + 36,838 ton
2009 + 28,122 ton
2010 + 64,208 ton
2011 + 13,818 ton

Is it a coincidence that this area with high population densities and high on-farm tree densities produces cereal surpluses? Can it be due to other interventions? Can it be that this area received a bit more rainfall and/or had a slightly better distribution of rainfall? What we can say at this stage is that the surplus is not due to other interventions. It also true that most of this area has high density young agroforestry parkland strongly dominated by Faidherbia albida, a nitrogen fixing species, which helps maintain and improve soil fertility. Although the Kantché department as a whole produced a cereal surplus in 2011, the poorest farmers will still be facing food shortages.

The information in the draft report also shows that the poorest households often derive significant income from their on-farm trees in the form of fodder, firewood, fruit and leaves part of which is sold on the market. Trees are an important source of farm income. Yamba and Sambo mention, for instance, that the sale of leaves from a single mature baobab tree (Adansonia digitata) generates an income of 27 US $ to 75 US $ depending on when the leaves get on the market. This income alone allows the owner of the baobab(s) (often women) to buy 75 to 175 kg of cereals on the market. In parts of the Mirriah department (Zinder Region), baobab is the dominating species and one finds many mature, but also young baobabs.

Why do farmers invest in trees?
Yamba and Sambo asked farmers why they protected and managed on-farm trees. They could provide more than one answer, but the dominating answer was (58%) for soil fertility and for food (25%). Farmers (men and women) across the Sahel are very worried about declining soil fertility and are ready to do everything to reverse a decline in soil fertility and certain tree species are perceived to improve soil fertility (Faidherbia albida, Piliostigma reticulatum, Combretum glutinosum, Guiéra senegalensis).

Some conclusions about agroforestry
1. On-farm trees increase and stabilize access of farm households to food. They reduce the risk of crop failure and even if crops fail, the trees provide other forms of income that allow farmers to buy expensive cereals on the market.
2. Average cereal yields under agroforestry in Niger remain low (usually about 450 kg/ha or more depending on soils, soil fertility management and groundwater level) and the use of modest doses of inorganic fertilizers is required to significantly increase yields.
3. Tree litter helps maintain or improve soil fertility by increasing the organic matter content of the soil, which improves the efficiency of fertilizer use and the water holding capacity of the topsoil. Trees first and micro doses of fertilizers next.
4. A recent study has shown that in certain situations trees can also decrease cereal yields, but the study did not indicate under which conditions. None of the farmers in the new agroforestry parklands in Niger, Mali and Burkina has ever mentioned this. Even if this would be the case, the multiple benefits of the tree capital outweighs a loss in cereals. If this were not the case, the farmers would cut the on-farm trees.

This picture of an old agroforestry parkland dominated by shea trees (Vitellaria paradoxa) and néré (Parkia biglobosa) in Mali shows that the vegetation on the communal fields has been destroyed for the production of charcoal for the capital Bamako. However, no one touches a single tree in the parkland. Tree densities are high and the canopy cover is significant. This may lead to lower cereal yields, which is very likely more than compensated for by the value of the products produced by these trees.

5. Although not everybody will readily believe it, when young trees are pruned, they develop a trunk and a canopy, and the prunings produce twigs that women can burn in their kitchen and the leaves add to the organic matter content of the soil. Trees produce benefits quickly and depending on species, rainfall and altitude can grow rapidly.

 

Water harvesting, groundwater recharge, small-scale irrigation and trees
The rural population in most drylands is rapidly increasing in absolute numbers, which makes it essential not only to increase food production and improve access to food, but also to increase the availability of water for the growing human population, but also for their livestock and for small-scale irrigation. This requires that available rainfall and runoff is captured and stored as much as possible in the soil.

We have a lot of anecdotal evidence of local increases in groundwater after the introduction of simple water harvesting techniques, like planting pits, half moons, contour stone bunds and low water spreading dams. They all force rainfall and runoff to slow down and infiltrate into the soil. ARI update 2012 no.2 tells the story about the village of Batodi in Niger’s Illéla department, which experienced a significant increase in water levels in their wells since they introduced planting pits and half moons in the early 1990s. The cereal crops in this village largely failed in 2011, but there are now 10 vegetable gardens in the village (0 in 1994). It will be a harsh year for many farm households, but without the investments in water harvesting it would have been a lot harsher. Similar stories can be told for the Northern part of Burkina Faso’s Central Plateau and for villages in Tigray (Ethiopia).

Natural regeneration on degraded slopes in combination with stone walls forces rainfall and runoff to infiltrate, which leads to groundwater recharge and expansion of irrigation in valleys and to the emergence of permanent springs (Tigray, Ethiopia).

We have a lot of anecdotal evidence, which taken together point to a plausible relationship between water harvesting and local groundwater recharge, but this is obviously one of the gaps in our knowledge that needs to be filled.

Conclusion
It is vital to create more productive and drought resilient farming systems in the Sahel and in the Horn of Africa to increase food production and improve soil fertility. Expanding agroforestry and developing water harvesting systems to recharge groundwater are vital first steps. There is no time to lose.

ARI Update 5 June 2011

Farmer-Managed Re-greening in Kaffrine (Senegal) began in 2008

This field is adjacent to the one above; most cultivated land in the Saloum region of Senegal is barren or has low on-farm tree densities (see point 2)

1. World Desertification Day (June 17)
On the occasion of World Desertification Day (June 17), the Secretary General of the United Nations formulated a message, which contained the following paragraph:

“The management, conservation and sustainable development of dry forests are central to combating desertification. The ongoing greening of the Sahel and other success stories around the world show that degraded lands can be reclaimed by agroforestry and other sustainable practices. We need to scale up these interventions and disseminate their results widely”.

This is exactly what African Re-greening Initiatives tries to do and the message of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon encourages all involved to persevere and expand activities.

2. Farmer-managed re-greening in the Kaffrine area (Senegal)
The Kaffrine area is part of Senegal’s Saloum region (Southeast of Dakar), which has low on-farm tree densities. This is the heritage of policies in the 1960s and 1970s to expand mechanized cultivation in Senegal’s peanut basin. The removal of trees and their stumps was subsidized in those days in order to create large treeless fields. In combination with cutting trees for charcoal production, this caused a large-scale degradation of vegetation. World Vision Senegal began doing so in 2008. The number of species protected and managed by farmers is limited. The main species concern Piliostigma reticulatum (for fodder and improvement of soil fertility) and Guiera senegalensis (firewood and fodder).

Every year World Vision Senegal sends a delegation of 22 farmers and staff to Niger to look at and learn from farmer-managed natural regeneration in that country. During the field visit it became quite obvious that farmers who participated in those study visits behave differently. They don’t burn Guiera senegalensis to enrich the soils, but they prune it and use the leaves as mulch, which attracts termites and improves soil structure (see picture below).

The scale of on-farm natural regeneration, which is still in its early stages, now concerns about 30,000 ha, but this includes some areas where densities are still low. However, some key conditions are united for rapid expansion of agroforestry in this region. These include high population densities, sandy soils, low on-farm tree densities and fairly good rainfall (about 700 mm) compared to areas in Niger and Mali where farmer-managed re-greening has already taken place on a large scale (about 500 mm).

The indications are that in 2010, cereal yields were significantly higher on cultivated land with young agroforestry systems than on fields without. This needs to be confirmed by longer-term monitioring.

3. Agroforestry systems in Europe
It can be argued that agroforestry represents the agriculture of the future as it produces “multiple wins”: enhancing food security, adapting to climate change, improving drought resilience, sequestering carbon, increasing biodiversity, etc.

It is interesting to note that agoforestry systems are also found in Europe. For instance in Spain and Portugal millions of hectares are covered by centuries old agroforestry systems, which continue to be maintained. They are largely based on two species of oak, including cork oak, but also on olive trees. Tree densities are often 40 trees per ha or more and under these trees farmers grow cereals or fodder grass. Extensive livestock grazing, which produces high quality meat, is part of this production system. The two photos below show a valley and hills in Spain’s Extremadura region with dense agroforestry and cattle grazing under the trees,where they benefit from fodder and from shade in this warm climate.

4. World Agroforestry Center workshop in Bamako
From June 6 – 8, the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF) organized a workshop in Bamako about the research methodologies that will be used to study the socioeconomic impacts as well as the costs and benefits of agroforestry systems in the Sahel. This is one of the three components of an IFAD grant to support re-greening in the Sahel. The workshop also identified research partners and made a first selection of potential research sites.

5. First Africa Drylands Week in Dakar
From June 13 – 17, the first Africa Drylands Week was held in Dakar. This Drylands Week (about 150 participants) was organized by a wide range of organizations: FAO,the Great Green Wall, the Earth Institute of Columbia University, etc. Many presentations were made on a wide range of themes relevant to dryland development. One aspect that transpired during the presentations and discussions is that the interest in farmer-managed re-greening and evergreen agriculture is increasing strongly. This is partly due to the fact that conventional tree planting has often produced disappointing results. A next update will provide a link to the report as soon as it becomes available.

6. Preparation of field visit by a delegation from Nigeria to Niger
During the workshop on agroforestry in Niger held in January 2011, the idea emerged to organize a field visit by a delegation from (Northern) Nigeria, which has in quite a few places low on-farm tree densities, to the new dense agroforestry parkland of Southern Niger. The partners in Niger are willing to organize a workshop and a field visit. Dr. Chinwe Ifejika Speranza, a Nigerian climate scientist, is a driving force behind this initiative. She has contacted the Heinrich Böll Stftung in Germany, which is willing to fund the cost of the Nigerian delegation. This workshop is likely to take place at the end of 2011.

Our hope is that it will lead to a re-greening initiative in parts of Northern Nigeria, which is urgent for many reasons.

7. Advocacy
Many opportunities emerged during the last two months to present farmer-managed re-greening in Africa’s drylands and its multiple impacts. These included presentations at the First Africa Drylands Workshop (June 13), at USAID Dakar (June 16) on “how can USAID contribute to feed the future in Africa’s drylands?, at the occasion of a workshop of the Dutch Knowledge Network “ Sustainability, Climate and Energy” (June 23) on Adaptation to Climate Change in Africa’s Drylands: from research to action; at the Sustainable Foods Summit in Amsterdam (June 23) on Sustainable Innovations and Climate Change in Africa’s Drylands.

8. Expansion of African Re-greening Initiatives: how can you contribute?Both in Burkina Faso and in Mali, the re-greening partners are receiving requests to expand their activities to other regions or provinces. At present the partners in Burkina Faso are working in 6 provinces and their plans are to expand to 10 provinces. The partners in Mali receive similar requests for expansion. They just organized a so-called caravane with national decision makers to the large-scale re-greening in the Seno Plains.

The partners in Niger have just organized study visits for farmers in the Dogon Doutchi region to Maradi.

Besides expansion within the existing countries, possibilities to expand ARI to Kenya will be explored. More about this as well as about Niger and Ethiopia in the next update.

9. Web Alliance for Re-greening in Africa (W4RA)
W4RA is developing and testing its tools. Below you’ll find the link to a short trailer about their field visit in January 2011.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX5nc_Wf6GA

10.Final remark
This update began with a quote from Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and it ends with a quote from a woman farmer in Senegal, which was on June 21 shared by Tony Rinaudo:

Female lead farmer from Kaffrine (Senegal) who went to Niger Thousands of projects have come through here but this SFLEI ( Senegal Food and Livelihood Enhancement Initiative) there is no comparison, if we are the judges. We have nothing but our environment. Since we started working with Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration we have already started seeing the benefits that we have not seen with any other project. The type of benefits we see pushes me sometimes to leave my home and just walk through my field to appreciate the trees and environment. When things get to where they need to be, we will see more yields and the path will be clear.

The next update will be produced around end July.