Evergreen Agriculture is a form of more intensive farming that integrates trees with annual crops, maintaining a green cover on the land throughout the year. It raises productivity, diversifies the farmland, raises direct production of food, fodder, fuel, fiber and income. It conserves forests and sequesters carbon.

1. Jonathan Muriuki and the evergreen team
ICRAF, Nairobi and partners
MAKING AGRICULTURE IN EAST AFRICA
‘EVERGREEN’ FOR IMPROVED LIVELIHOODS
AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESILIENCE

2. Synopsis
§ The regional
context
§ The evergreen
agriculture idea
§ Some
observations
from farmer
practices
§ Action research
towards scaling
up

3. HUMID
HIGHLANDS
High Pop. Density
(Home to > 50 % of
region’s pop)
Supply > 50 % of
regions staple &
cash crops
Important water
towers
Rainfed & irrigated
agriculture
Major crops: Maize,
potato, banana,
wheat, coffee, tea,
arrow roots
DRYLANDS
81 % of total land
mass
Significant in
Kenya (75 %);
Tanzania &
Ethiopia (50 %)
Pastoralism / Agro-
pastoralism
Irrigated and
rainfed agriculture
Major crops:
Sorghum, millet &
cassava, cotton
Eastern Africa
Main features

4. Conventional Farming – This is how we produce food
Trees are kept off cropland and soil is turned over leading to :-
- Disruption of soil life
- High surface area for moisture loss

5. Intensive Tillage destroys the
biological and ecological
integrity of the soil system.
Before
Primary
Tillage
After
Primary
Tillage
After
Secondary
Tillage
“Earthworms are allergic to cold steel!”
Credit: Mike Bell 15 July, 2003 and Pascal Kaumbutho - KENDAT

6. Our high potential land is sloppy and
vulnerable!
Conventional farming on sloppy lands without conservation leads to
• Huge soil losses due to run-off
• Quick degradation
• Landslides and floods especially due to lack of tree roots

7. 81% of the land is semi-arid and cycles of floods and
droughts together with overgrazing leads to massive
degradation

8. Genesis of Conservation Agriculture
With Trees
Call by the Conference of
African Union (AU) Ministers of
Agriculture, Land and
Livestock in 2009 call upon
Member States to:
Ø Increase investment support in
strengthening knowledge,
advancing technical capacity
development, and up-scaling
sustainable land management
practices including
conservation agriculture and
agroforestry.

9. Types of Agroforestry
1. Agroforests: combinations of perennial
species on arable land
2. Home gardens with perennials
3. Woodlots or farm forests
4. Sylvopastoral systems: Trees in pastures
5. Trees on field and farm boundaries
6. Evergreen Agriculture: Trees intercropped with
field crops

10. What is Evergreen Agriculture?
A form of more
intensive farming
that integrates trees
with annual crops,
maintaining a green
cover on the land
throughout the year.
Evergreen farming
systems are ‘double-
story’ systems that
feature both perennial
and annual species
(food crops and trees).

11. Trees incorporation into crop fields and
agricultural landscapes may contribute to:
i. maintaining vegetative soil cover year-round (Boffa,1999),
ii. bolstering nutrient supply through nitrogen fixation and nutrient cycling
(Barnes and Fagg, 2003),
iii. enhanced suppression of insect pests and weeds (Sileshi et al. 2006),
iv. improved soil structure and water infiltration (Chirwa et al. 2007),
v. greater direct production of food, fodder, fuel, fiber and income from
products produced by the intercropped trees (Garrity, 2004),
vi. enhanced carbon storage both above-ground and belowground
(Makumba et al. 2007),
vii. greater quantities of organic matter in soil surface residues (Akinnifesi
et al. 2007), and
viii. more effective conservation of above- and belowground biodiversity
(Scherr and McNeeley, 2009).

12. Some examples of Evergreen Agriculture
in EA
• Fodder shrubs for balanced dairy nutrition (eg
Calliandra in the East African Dairy Project)
• Mango and other fruits intercropped in maize systems
• Grevillea robusta intercropped in maize for timber,
fodder & fuel
• Faidherbia albida in maize production systems (CA
being tested)
• Intercropped coppicing leguminous trees in maize (eg
Gliricidia in Malawi tested in Western Kenya and
KIbwezi)
• Relay-cropped leguminous species managed as annual
green manure (eg Tephrosia)

13. More people
more trees
Drier areas have
more indigenous
tree species

14. 1. Minimum
soil
disturbance.
The
roots
of
tree/shrub
species
and
the
soil
fauna
take
over
the
tillage
function,
soil
nutrient
mobilization
and
balancing
2. Adequate
soil
cover.
The
trees
add
biomass,
which
protects
the
soil
and
feeds
the
soil
biota
(i.e.
biological
plough).
This
also
ensures
better
carbon
storage
than
CA
alone
3. Trees
in
the
rotation/
intercrop
reduce
weeds,
insect
pests
and
diseases;
Thus
increasing
savings
from
inputs
such
as
fertilizer
and
herbicides
When integrated with CA, trees ensure

15. System characterisation with AKT - Machakos

16. System characterisation with AKT - Mbarali

17. Most frequent tree species by agro-
ecological zones in Machakos,
Bugesera and Mbarali
Zone
Machakos
Bugesera
Mbarali
L o w
altitude
1
Mangifera indica
Senna spectabilis
Faidherbia albida
2
Senna siamea
Eucalyptus spp
Mbadaga
3
Grevillea robusta
Grewia similis
Acacia tortilis
4
Terminalia brownii
Grevillea robusta
Delonix regia
5
Citrus sinensis
Persea americana
Mangifera indica
M i d
altitude
1
Eucalyptus
camaldulensis
Grevillea robusta
Faidherbia albida
2
Grevillea robusta
Senna spectabilis
Mangifera Indica
3
Persea americana
Persea americana
Acacia tortilis
4
Mangifera indica
Mangifera indica
Senna spectabilis
5
Croton megalocarpus
Eucalyptus spp
Delonix regia
H i g h
altitude
1
Grevillea robusta
Grevillea robusta
2
Mangifera indica
Mangifera indica
3
Persea americana
Persea americana
4
Eucalyptus
camaldulensis
Eucalyptus spp
5
Croton megalocarpus
Citrus limon

18. Species accumulation curves 90 farms
surveyed in Machakos County
There are more indigenous species in
the community but far exceed by the
exotic species in numbers

19. Farmers views on various species in their farms
Market value
categories
Botanical name
common niches
Leaf mulch/ fertility
value
Crop conditions under the
canopy
High value/
commonly
sold
Mangifera indica
Field (terraces)
slow decomposer
unhealthy appearance and
reduction in yield
Persea americana
field (terraces)
not known
unhealthy appearance and
reduction in yield
Eucalyptus
camaldulensis
field boundaries
harmful to the soil
unhealthy appearance and
reduction in yield
Medium
value
Grevillea robusta
field boundaries/
home compound
mulch value (high
moisture content)
healthy appearance no reduction
in yield
Terminalia brownii
field boundaries
conflicting opinions
reduction in yield - can be
improved with pruning
Carica papaya
field (terraces)
fast decomposer
healthy appearance no reduction
in yield
Citrus limon
field (terraces)
slow decomposer
reduction in yield
Citrus sinensis
field (terraces)
slow decomposer
reduction in yield for maize,
legumes have no reduction in
yield
Can be sold
Psidium guajava
field (terraces)
slow decomposer
unhealthy appearance and
reduction in yield
Syzygium
guineense
field boundaries/
home compound
reduction in yield - can be
improved with pruning
Acacia nilotica
field boundaries/
grazing field
fast decomposer
healthy appearance no reduction
in yield
Balanites
aegyptiaca
field boundaries/
grazing field
fast decomposer
healthy appearance no reduction
in yield
Acacia
xanthophloea
field boundaries/
grazing field
fast decomposer
healthy appearance no reduction
in yield

20. Priority high value fruit tree species selected
for Kenya and Tanzania by various authors
Source
Kenya
Tanzania
Teklehaimanot
(2007)
1.Vitex payos
1.Sclerocarya birrea
2.Berchemia discolor
2.Strychnos cocculoides
3.Balanites aegyptiaca
3.Parinari curatellifolia
4.Carrisa edulis
4 . V a n g u e r i a
madagascariensis
5.Sclerocarya birrea
5.Balanites aegyptiaca
Chikamai et al
(2005)
1.Tamarindus indica
1.Parinari curatellifolia
2.Adansonia digitata
2.Strychnos cocculoides
3.Balanites aegyptiaca
3.Uapaka kirkiana
4.Berchemia discolour
4.Vitex mombassae
5.Ziziphus mauritiana
5.Vitex doniana
Maghembe et
al (1998)
1.Strychnos cocculoides
2.Uapaca kirikiana
3.Vitex mombassae
4.Parinari curatellifolia
5.Tamarindus indica

21. Demand and Supply trends of tree
seedlings from nurseries in Machakos (bars
represent % responses)
Purchase of seedlings is not very common in Rwanda (85%), Meru (35%) and
Machakos and farmers reported that nurseries were far away from their farms

22. For successful scaling up, an Evergreen
agriculture programme needs
Tree management
spacing, niches,
CA, tree crop
interactions, etc
Right species,
Seeds, and
seedling systems
Favorable policies,
extension networks,
capacity building at all
levels , linking markets
Germplasm Practices
Enabling environment
Knowledge to Action with
further research
(Rural resource centers)
Characterizati
on of
typologies
Support for
national scaling
up programmes

23. Approaches for germplasm supply
• Rural resource
centres
• Satelite nurseries
and
demonstrations in
schools – healthy
learning approach
• Group nurseries
• Individually
operated nurseries
(pseudo-extension)
• FMNR approaches

24. Rural resource centres and satellites
Mbarali Rural Resource Centre,
Tanzania
Kangundo Satellite school nursery,
Kenya
Technology hubs - Infrastructure for transferring technologies
(agroforestry, tree domestication) to a high number of farmers,
particularly in the countries where the extension services are weak –
technology demonstrations and germplasm sources

25. Capacity building approaches
To build the capacity i.e.
ü competence,
ü confidence and
ü commitment
of farmers to invest in evergreen agriculture
through
Ø Farmer training
Ø Demonstration plots and
Ø Linking to markets

26. Extension approaches - Competence
• Government as the default and most sustainable –
ministry of agriculture (not forestry?)
• NGOs network – KENDAT, World Vision, others in
Tanzania
• Volunteer farmers and nursery operators
• Approaches – Landcare, rural resource centres, satelite
nurseries (with healthy learning), farmer field schools
• Demonstration plots

27. Capacity building - Demonstrations and
participatory trials - competence
• At rural resource
centres, satellite
nurseries, ATCs
• At least one per
demonstration per
intervention village
• Also serve as
participatory on-farm
trials to test acceptance
of technology
• High replication to allow
biophysical
measurements with
sufficient precision

28. Linking farmers to markets and value
chains – commitment and confidence
The Farmer
(producer
competence)
Crop yields
Tree products
Livestock
products
The input chain
(confidence)
• Seeds
• Implements
• Tree
seedlings
• Animal feeds
• Chemicals
The markets
(commitment)
And markets are moving so
enterprise rotation matters!!!

29. What have we learned from the impacts
already achieved, and about the key farmer
incentives for adoption?
1. Trees in conservation farming increase system
resilience especially the spread of the growing
season – indigenous species have a key role
2. There are multiple benefits and repercussions on
crop productivity, household nutrition, fodder
production, fuelwood/energy availability, income
source, and systems sustainability.
3. Scaling-up models will differ across agro-
ecological zones and countries
4. Farmers opinion is important as they are the
managers of their farms and know them best
5. Farmers listen to other farmers more easily as they
share visible experiences – involve them in extension
approaches

30. THANKS
Creating an Evergreen Agriculture