Cash crops are developing in the once forested areas of Indonesia in parallel with market and economic improvements. Perennial crops such as coffee, cocoa, and rubber were first planted in estates by private or public companies. Local people then integrated these crops into their farming systems, often through the planting of agroforests, that is, intercropping the new cash crop with upland rice and food crops. The crop was generally mixed with fruit trees, timber, and other useful plants. A geographic specialization occurred, driven by biophysical constraints and market opportunities, with expansion of cocoa in Sulawesi, coffee in Lampung, and natural rubber in eastern Sumatra. However, during the past three decades, these agroforests have increasingly been converted into more productive monoculture plantations. A common trajectory can be observed in agricultural landscapes dominated by a perennial cash crop: from ladang to agroforests, and then to monoculture plantations. This process combines agricultural expansion at the expense of natural forests and specialization of the land cover at the expense of biodiversity and wildlife habitats. We determined the main drivers of agricultural expansion and intensification in three regions of Indonesia based on perception surveys and land use profitability analysis. When the national and international contexts clearly influence farmers’ decisions, local people appear very responsive to economic opportunities. They do not hesitate to change their livelihood system if it can increase their income. Their cultural or sentimental attachment to the forest is not sufficient to prevent forest conversion
Tag: Coffee agroforestry
Promoting native trees in shade coffee plantations of southern India: Comparison of growth rates with the exotic Grevillea robusta
Traditional shade coffee plantations of Kodagu district, in the Western Ghats of southern India, harbor a high density and diversity of trees. Local farmers appreciate native biodiversity, but plantation economics and public policies drive them to gradually replace the original diversi ed cover with exotic shade trees such as Grevillea robusta, which grows fast and can be easily traded as timber. In order to identify and recommend native timber trees with fast growth rates, we compared the growth performance of four common native species against that of G. robusta, by tting steel dendrometer bands on 332 shade trees. Results showed that in general G. robusta had the fastest growth rates, but large trees of the native Acrocarpus fraxinifolius had faster growth in the wet western side of the district. Computer projections of long term performance showed that most species were in uenced by bioclimatic zone. Species-speci c local environmental effects also occurred, including competition from coffee bushes for A. fraxinifolius, in uence of aspect for G. robusta, and management block effects for Lagerstroemia microcarpa. Our results show that native species potentially could produce timber at rates equivalent to those of exotic species. However, as in many tropical countries, data on growth rates of native trees within mixed-cover plantations are scarce and this study underlines the urgent need to screen for fast-growing species. Such information provides a strong basis for recommending appropriate changes in public policies that would improve tree tenure security and encourage farmers to grow more native species.
Agroforestry, Indigenous Tree Cover and Biodiversity Conservation: A Case Study of Mount Elgon in Uganda
Addressing interconnected social and environmental issues, including poverty, food security, climate change, and biodiversity loss, requires integrated solutions. Agroforestry is a sustainable land use approach with the potential to address multiple issues. This study examined the tree cultivation behavior of smallholder farmers in the Mt. Elgon region of Uganda. We examined the proportion of indigenous tree species added to or removed from agricultural land and the reasons for farmers’ decisions in this regard. We found that farmers overwhelmingly planted exotic species, limiting the possible benefits for the conservation of biodiversity from a suggested re-greening of the region. Indigenous trees were cultivated in low numbers and dominated by a handful of species. Opportunities to help farmers increase the number and variety of indigenous trees on their land were found among smaller-scale coffee farmers and in the protection of natural forests from which indigenous trees propagate into the wider landscape.