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Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to investigate agroforestry adoption by smallholder farmers in Gutu District, Zimbabwe. Design/Methodology/Approach: The methodology was based on field data collected through household questionnaires, key informant interviews and direct observations. Findings: Major findings reveal that traditional agroforestry was common in the study area. There were no cases of innovative agroforestry other than dwindling remnants from a former trees-with-pasture project. Majority of respondents were willing to adopt innovative agroforestry technologies to improve yields and income. Damage and destruction of plants by pests and animals due to lack of fences emerged as the major challenges to the adoption of agroforestry. Other challenges included seed availability and labour requirements. Possible coping strategies, identified through consulting farmers and other stakeholders, would include local initiatives and support from outside the community. Local and external efforts are required especially to secure inputs and raise awareness, knowledge and skills with respect to specific agroforestry technologies. Practical Implications: The paper presents pointers on the involvement of women in agroforestry and on the cultural significance of indigenous and exotic fruit trees. It provides practical lessons useful to extension or rural development workers in a localised set-up. Originality/Value: The case study gives an insight into the problems faced by peasant farmers and the requirements to make agroforestry successful. Practitioners in southern Africa could learn a great deal about issues relating to smallholder farmers from reading this paper. (Contains 3 tables and 3 figures.)

L’agriculture, l’activité humaine probablement la plus dépendante du climat, est à la fois victime et responsable du changement climatique mais elle peut aussi être une solution à la crise du changement climatique. C’est dans les pays en développement, particulièrement vulnérables, que les effets du changement climatique seront les plus violents. L’agriculture émet des gaz à effet de serre, mais il est possible de diminuer ces émissions par des pratiques agro écologiques favorisant l’augmentation de la matière organique du sol. Il est également possible, grâce à ces pratiques, d’augmenter la capture de carbone atmosphérique en fixant du carbone dans le sol et ainsi contribuer à l’atténuation du changement climatique, tout en améliorant les propriétés du sol, ce qui permet simultanément d’améliorer l’adaptation de l’agriculture au changement climatique. Une augmentation de la teneur en carbone de tous les sols du monde de 4 ‰ par an permettrait de compenser toutes les émissions de gaz à effet de serre d’origine anthropique. L’initiative internationale d’origine française « 4 ‰, Les Sols pour la Sécurité Alimentaire et le Climat » se donne pour objectif de mettre en œuvre des projets permettant de montrer qu’il est possible d’augmenter la teneur en carbone du sol dans ces proportions et de répondre aux questions de recherche que cela pose, notamment en matière de mesure du taux de carbone dans le sol, de pratiques agronomiques pertinentes, du contexte socio-économique favorable à cette démarche et enfin du suivi dans le temps des changements induits.

Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) are critical biodiversity areas for the conservation and sustainable use of biological and cultural resources while promoting regional peace, cooperation, and socio-economic development. Sustainable management of TFCAs is dependent on the availability of an eco-agriculture framework that promotes integrated management of conservation mosaics in terms of food production, environmental protection or the conservation of natural resources, and improved human livelihoods. As a developmental framework, eco-agriculture is significantly influenced by existing legal and governance structures at all levels; this study assessed the impact of existing legal and governance frameworks on eco-agriculture implementation in the Lubombo TFCA that cuts across the borders between Mozambique, Eswatini, and South Africa. The assessment used a mixed research method, including a document review, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions. Although the three countries have no eco-agriculture policies, biodiversity practices are directly or indirectly affected by some policies related to environmental protection, agriculture improvement, and rural development. The assessment found that South Africa has the most comprehensive policies related to eco-agriculture; Mozambican policies mainly focus on equity and involvement of disadvantaged social groups, while Eswatini is conspicuous for explicitly making it the responsibility of each citizen to protect and safeguard the environment. The protection of conservation areas is critical to preserving natural habitats and ensuring the continued provision of ecosystem services. The lack of transboundary governance structures results in the Lubombo TFCA existing as a treaty on paper, as there are no clear processes for transboundary cooperation and collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stakeholder engagement has become an important aspect of sustainable natural resources management. This study analysed a landscape performance assessment by local and ‘external’ stakeholders in a transfrontier conservation area in Southern Africa. The landscape was divided into three agro-ecological zones and focus group discussions were facilitated for stakeholders to evaluate the landscape based on four ecoagriculture dimensions (production, conservation, livelihoods and institutions). The conservation dimension showed the best performance and the overall score for the landscape was 2.97, implying a fairly good performance. Perceptions and ratings did not significantly differ by age, gender or stakeholder groups. We conclude that despite their low levels of formal education and training, communal farmers can assess the performance of local landscapes in a consistent way. This study provides information about the degree to which the landscape under focus conformed to the main ecoagriculture goals and can guide development planning and extension service provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objectives of climatesmart agriculture (CSA) are to be adapted to climate change and mitigate it, while sustainably contributing to food security. The concept emerged in 2010 at FAO and has now become popular. Different CSA practices can be found today and integrate its objectives differently. Agroecological practices aiming for a permanent soil cover, either with trees or crops, are among the most common CSA practices. CSA is also a wider approach allowing taking into account the challenge of climate change with innovative public policies and financing. Because it is defined by its objectives and not by the means to reach those objectives, the concept of CSA has also been questioned, especially regarding the possibility to reach its three objectives simultaneously and because of the risks to promote disguised productivism that would not respect the environment or the farmers. The 4‰ initiative « Soils for Food Security and Climate » takes up the objectives of CSA and emphasizes the mitigation of climate change by increasing the carbon content of the soil. While the CSA concept has yet to prove itself, it is an innovative, climate-friendly approach to agriculture that is compatible with the challenges of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study employed participatory approaches to establish ways of engaging local communities within a transfrontier conservation area, towards achieving the goals of integrated agricultural production and biodiversity conservation at a landscape level, known as ecoagriculture. We facilitated farmers' meetings to create charts of local environmental and livelihood concerns and of their vision of the future. Water scarcity, bad road conditions, unemployment and low harvests emerged among the most prevalent concerns. Through a visioning process, participants arrived at a desired future that was largely inclined towards improved livelihoods, with comparatively little attention on biodiversity enhancement. We conclude that stakeholder-driven ecoagriculture could be a sustainable strategy to simultaneously achieve the community's vision and the goals of transfrontier conservation areas, provided biodiversity management strategies are linked to infrastructure improvement and income generating activities. We recommend a community visioning process as an effective approach to encourage collective action and to support local ownership of development programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of agriculture and biodiversity has become an acknowledged solution to concurrently address the development of sustainable food production systems and the preservation of natural resources. However, there are few alternative farming systems combining agricultural commodities with ecosystem services. We examined the farm and landscape dynamics of an area in South Africa which has been isolated from mainstream agriculture for several decades. We used a time series of aerial photographs as well as farm surveys and interviews to analyze how historical and present trends can explain land use features. Results show that today's landscape is the consequence of dramatic socioeconomic transformations that have turned original transhumant livestock keepers into sedentary farmers. Although poverty is widespread, we found a well-balanced landscape with a regularly increasing tree cover and a high biodiversity potential. Beyond farm and household size, the main landscape impact factors are herd size and management as well as soil fertility management practices, including fallowing. We show that these conditions represent a good potential toward a multifunctional landscape, provided the relationships between farmers' practices and biodiversity are better formalized and there are tangible benefits for farmers to opt for this approach. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including ecoagriculture landscapes, biodiversity conservation and coffee farming in Mexico.

The world seeks to balance biodiversity protection and food production. Transfrontier conservation areas (TFCAs) provide unique opportunities for strategies that combine agriculture with biodiversity conservation at a landscape level, known as ecoagriculture. We identified and consulted ecoagriculture stakeholders in a smallholder farming community within a TFCA. Data were obtained through key informant interviews and questionnaire surveys. Eighty-eight percent of key informants indicated that planned ecoagriculture was feasible in the area and 95% of interviewed farmers positively considered to plan the integration of biodiversity conservation and farming. Potential conflicts of interest were revealed among stakeholders but to a large extent, stakeholder roles and interests were complementary, creating an environment conducive to effective coordinated ecoagriculture planning. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]