Now let’s move on to combined practices, meaning producing crops, trees and livestock at the same time.
Agroforestry is a very helpful CSA practice. Preserving trees protects sandy soil from erosion caused by the strong winds as well as heavy downpours in the rainy season; trees can increase soil fertility and provide fodder for livestock, fruit and leaves for human consumption, fiber, firewood and materials for traditional medicines.
In Niger, food production in the areas with tree conservation has gone up so much, that it now produces enough food for 2.5 million people.
However, agroforestry does need a long time for trees and shrubs to grow, so increased profit only comes after waiting.
As seen, women may not have the same capacity as men to adopt agroforestry.
Here is an example where a practice can help women farmers in some ways, so the section is colored green. But note that it is only helpful for women if they can control what is done with the wood. Do you think women in your village can take this decision themselves? If not, how could you help?
Next, we move on to a practice of combining crops and livestock rearing on the same farm.
Another practice involves combining crops, trees and livestock rearing on the same farm.
This is an example of agro-silvopastorialism in Ethiopia, where members of self-help groups were able to increase their incomes by using agroforestry, intercropping and improved animal management.
This example challenges us to critically think about how men and women may be affected differently by agro-silvopastoralism.
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