Smallholders’ agriculture at the tropical forest margin in cameroon opportunities for a landscpe approach to promote agroforestry

SMALLHOLDERS’ AGRICULTURE AT THE TROPICAL FOREST MARGIN IN CAMEROON: OPPORTUNITIES FOR A LANDSCPE APPROACH TO PROMOTE AGROFORESTRY

Valentina Robiglio, 29/11/2011 WORLD AGROFORESTRY CENTRE, Nairobi

BIO-PRESENTATION

Forest landscape ecologist at IITA partner in the ASB platform

[email protected]

Research subject: analysis of land use systems at the humidtropical forest margin. Implications for livelihoods, carbon sequestration and biodiversity. Key words: smallholder farmers, shifting cultivation, land use trajectories, deforestation and forest degradation, tree based mitigation (REDD+/REALU) and adaptation strategies

Population: 19.5 M, 42% rural, urbanization 3.4%, variation across regions 7.5 p/Km2 Est, 12.5 p/Km2 South;Economy: GDP 44 billions $, agriculture 20% GDP – labor force 70%;Export: oil, lumber and cocoa

Dense humid forest: 16.5 M ha

CAMEROON

Dense tropical forest :PFD 12M ha protected 4.5M

production 7.5NPFD 5M ha liable to conversion

Deforestation rate: 1.1%

Major driver of deforestationsmall-scale agriculture

REDD+

THE LAND USE MOSAIC AT THE FOREST MARGIN

Annual crops 900 t ha Cocoa Agro-forests 500 t ha

Fallow Units and secondary forests 4 M ha

In much of CA and WA the expansion of agriculture by small-holder farmers is a leading driver of deforestation;

Nutrients in the plant biomass are mined by agricultural households employing slash and burn;

The same households depend on stock of wild food, fuelwood, and traditional medicines which are produced by the forest they cut down and burn in their agricultural practices;

DEFORESTATION

Fallows and agroforests provide environmental services such as biodiversity conservation and carbon stock =>mitigation of deforestation.

LANDSCAPE CONCEPT AND LANDSCAPE APPROACH

Landscapes: spatially heterogeneous geographic areas characterized by diverse interacting patches or ecosystemsLandscape approach is necessary to deal at the same time with production, biodiversity, ecosystem services and functions, livelihoods strategies, policy and institutions across scales. That approach is particularly valuable to create an understanding in the complex (competing) interrelationships between resource use and users across scales.

Livelihoods strategies

Production

Ecosystem services Biodiversity

Carbon sink and sequestration

Institutions

policy System resilience

Comparison of HH data for 1996-2011 in AWAE

BEYOND THE UNDERSTANDING OF LAND USE /LAND COVER CHANGE

What are the implications of LULC on local and global environmental services provided by landscapes?

Are LULC changes indicator of agricultural change? (e.g. a change in the social asset, or technology…)

What are the entry points for AFS once adopting a landscape approach?

What are the current trends in the agricultural mosaics and how do they affect forest species regeneration capacity and conservation potential of the mosaics?

1) What factors do control species regeneration (fallows)?

2) What are the factors that shape LULC at the local scale and how do they operate?

impact of combined agricultural expansion/deforestation and intensification processes on the potential for biodiversity conservation in shifting cultivation landscapes

Robiglio V., Sinclair F.L. (2011). Maintaining the Conservation Value of Shifting Cultivation Landscapes Requires Spatially Explicit Interventions. Environmental Management . 48(2): 289-306.

landscape structure

Shifting cultivation landscapes are complex fragmented landscapes: Complexity results from the dynamics within the non-forest agricultural matrix and from the linked process of forest loss and recovery in fallows.


PLOT LEVEL TRAJECTORIESLANDSCAPE LEVEL OUTCOME

Nkometou

0

20

40

60

80

100

1951 2001 1951 2001 1951 2001

shb hb gr_hb

hb shb frF_agr fr_mlF mlf dhf gr_hb gr

Core Area

Herbaceous land

Shrubland

Grassland herbaceous

1951 2001 1951 2001 1951 2001

Nkometou

%of class’ land 43.6 65.7 58.3 49.1 68.9 67.8 Core areas per patch 1.4 1.8 1.5 1.4 1.2 1.3 Mean core area 1.4 12.7 3.7 1.9 5.8 9.7 Median core area 0.6 1.1 1.1 0.9 2.3 2.2 Core area range 7.1 449.5 42.0 25.8 45.0 44.8

•Focus Group RRA•Participatory GIS mapping to define territory/landscape scale on the base of land resources management;•RS fine grained monitoring of transition and modification of LC classes;•Analysis of forest fragmentation and agricultural expansion (FRAGSTATS)


Plot level trees species richness and diversity assessment per land use type

factors affecting the pattern of abundance of woody species:-Plot level factors : the land use, weeds layer, the density of un-felled trees, age-Landscape factors: mature vegetation, forest , matrix.

1. test of the influence of plot and landscape sets using RDA

2. significant sets arranged in a hierarchy, on the basis of a variance partitioning procedure.


Results

Species regeneration:1) The type of agricultural matrix in which the fallows are embedded, the degree of

adjacency to mature vegetation and the distance from the forest have the highest impact on forest species distribution in the regenerating fallows.

Land Use / Land Cover change:1) Agricultural patches are expanding and merging;2) Remnant forest patches are shrinking and increasingly isolated;3) Within the agricultural matrix the proportion cropped at any time is increasing, as well as

the frequency and size of short fallow patches;4) Fallow plots are increasingly scattered throughout the agricultural matrix and isolated from

one another and the remaining forest => loss of fallow functions and degradation of the agricultural matrix


Implications:

Methodological:1. Analytical frameworks of forest fragmentation and conservation at the tropical

forest margin should integrate the processes that control secondary forest recovery within the agricultural matrix: the intensity, persistency and spatial pattern of the agricultural disturbances.

Landscape management: 2. Non-forest matrix provides required conditions in the absence of forest;3. With the loss of fallow functions, scattered trees, live fences, multistrata cocoa,

home gardens and small degraded forest spots that farmers maintain, become the foci of conservation and dispersal of forest species;

4. Spatial distribution matters!


Robiglio V., Mala W.A. and Diaw M.C. (2003) Mapping landscapes: Integrating GIS and social science methods to model human-nature relationships in Southern Cameroon. Small-Scale Forestry Volume 2, Number 2, 171-184.

factors influencing farmers land use decision making in the villages functional territories

•12 villages HH surveys + Focus groups for LUC Drivers, Resources Management, income, landholdings•6 villages for carbon and trees biodiversity assessment , GPS-LU mosaic mapping, land use trajectories and profitability analysis•LULC analysis over 2001-2007 based on Landsat and Aster img.

What are the implications of landscape change on the local and global environmental services?

• Allometric equation adopted:AGB = ρ * EXP {-1.499 + [2.148 * LN(DBH)] + [0.207 * LN(DBH)] 2 – [0.0281 * LN(DBH)] 3} Chave et al. (2005)

AGB = aboveground biomass in kg/tree ρ = wood density g/cm3 EXP = ―e‖ to the power of DBH = diameter at breast height

in cm

data collection • 173 Plots• LUTs:Degraded forest Logged forestSecondary forestFallowsCocoa farmsTrees dbh > 5cm, measured and identified+understory, litter, dead trees


Clusters of local landscape changes allow identifying typical landscapes of shifting cultivation, settled areas with more stable agriculture, and areas with net deforestation, how these are distributed in space and how they relate to pattern of identified drivers.

Within a dynamic landscape with high percentages of LU changes, the aggregated proportion of forest is stable but there are contrasting local dynamics ;

preliminary results

1. LULC 2001/2007 :


Traditional Shaded Cocoa Oil Palm-small scale Forest fields (Essep ) Mixed Foodcrop Monoculture Foodcrops

% of land 9.70% 4.30% 8.20% 3.40% 0.10%

S (ha) 0.6 3.4 0.6 0.13 0.19

Perennial crops Slash and Burn systems

*Data for 1 site

2. Land Use Mosaic:

Fallow land is the main component of the land use mosaic

preliminary results


Land Use System Change Carbon stock distribution

General trends of Change reported by the farmers in sites with good market acces:1) Increase of number of fields by HH, in particular under short intercrop systems : introduction of mono-cultural crops2) Increase of average fields surface in particular for forest farms3) Decrease of remnant trees left during field preparation both for mixed food

crops and in cocoa farms

DEGRADATION of the RURAL MOSAIC


Carbon /tree species diversity correlate for non- pioneer and late/shade bearer species in fallow intercrop degraded forest (R, Pearson 0.64, p<0.01).

late/shade bearer species show the clearest pattern with C stock both for fallows and degraded forest

3. Carbon and species diversity indicators Carbon/tree species diversity correlate significantly across the land use types considered (R, Pearson 0.748; SW, Pearson 0.663, p<0.001)


preliminary results

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a flourishing domestic timber sector…

What are the entry points for AFS? On –farm timber production

Once SSL production is included the overall value of national timber production doubles!

2000 2005 20100.0

1,000,000.0

2,000,000.0

3,000,000.0

Official productionPolynomial (Official production)

Robiglio, V. et al. 2011.From farmers to loggers: understanding the role of the rural land for timber production in Cameroon. Submitted to a special issue of Small Scale Forestry .

Robiglio, V. et al. ASB PolicyBrief23On-farm timber productionfor emission reduction with sustainable benefits at the tropical forest margins.

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…targets a handful of species harvested …

Five species made about 75% of total sales in Yaounde.

Ayous is the most largely commercialised

Important commercial species are harvested more in the NPFD

Source: Cerutti and Lescuyer 2010


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…in the agricultural land use units


What are on-farm trees in the rural mosaic?

Farmers traditionally maintained selected forest species on their farms 1. increase crop productivity (e.g. enhancement of soil fertility, of nutrient cycling, management of light and moisture, protection from wind); 2. provide valuable products (food, medicines, construction timber, fuel wood etc.) for household consumption and income diversification.

!! SSL benefits of a stock of trees that were preserved by farmers for reasons other than timber production

!! On-farm trees in Cameroon are not managed by farmers for timber production.


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Towards an assessment of the opportunity to develop management options for the on-farm timber stock

Are there significant variations in tree species distribution in the different land use systems?

What are the factors influencing trees species distribution?

How will the evolution of agricultural land use systems affect future timber production?

Can timber production from farmland become a livelihood option for smallholders?


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Nkolabang, intensively cultivated, short rotations are dominant, high population pressure

Results: Farmland timber Stock and species

Larger volumes and higher density values were found in the fallow units (medium and old) and for secondary species,

Trees density varied across sites; Within sites trees density varied across Land Use Units;ANOVA of average density per LUT was significant only for one species in one site (Iroko, F=2.79, p=0.026).

About 49 over 51 commercial species inventoried. The most abundant were the Pioneers and Non Pioneer Light Demanding Species;

Mevo Mevo, medium and long fallow rotations are dominant, low population pressure


Other results

P and NPLD species regenerate and grow in fallow based and permanent tree crop systems

Density depends on the type of LUT, the length of the fallow rotation and on the species

There is a high potential to promote secondary species in particular in the fallow units

Agricultural expansion and intensification coupled to logging is rapidly reducing the availability of farmland trees >> need for intervention to avoid timber shortage


Tenure and use right restrictionIn particular the prohibition to sell, that is the impossibility of fully benefit of their use right on trees growing on their customarily owned land is perceived as a barrier to get involved in planting and better managing timber trees. Tenure insecurity becomes an issue in relation to the time needed by the trees to grow and become exploitable.

Low profitabilityFarmers feel they have a low power of negotiation and get low returns for a valuable product. Not aware of the economical value of the timber they consider the low price justified by the lack of investment in production.

Technical restrictions: lack of management skills and informationFarmers’ knowledge about managing timber trees regeneration and growth is limited to very basic techniques and fully depend on natural regeneration.


Analysis of barriers

There is potential for indigenous timber species to be associated with smallholder crop production.

Natural regeneration should be integrated by domestication and planting with the development of related technical protocols.

Farmers’ knowledge about tree management and tree properties should be complemented with technical knowledge on crop-trees complementation.

Adapted management units should be identified and inventory and monitoring systems developed.

The system has to be integrated in the design of agricultural intensification options considering spatial distribution.

Main barriers such as lack of rights and delayed benefits to farmers should be addressed with benefit sharing mechanisms that favor short term payback and market information systems on domestic and international timber prices, to increase farmers’ awareness of timber value.

In the long term, reforms to reinforce tree ownership by farmers, and control over timber resources.


Opportunities and the way forwards

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR ATTENTION !!!! MERCI!!!! GRAZIE!!!! ASANTE SANA!!!!

LULC: DEGRADATION AND AGRICULTURAL INTENSIFICATION

Fine grained mosaic dynamics are difficult to monitor... and not considered in general debate about tropical deforestation / degradation and land use change;

Complex mosaics evolve from tree-rich to tree-poor systems vertical: cocoa agroforests horizontal: shortening of fallows and expansion of homogeneous agricultural matrices;

trees species richness and diversity assessment per land use type

factors affecting the pattern of abundance of woody species:1. test of the influence of plot and landscape sets using RDA 2. significant sets arranged in a hierarchy, on the basis of a

variance partitioning procedure

3. Carbon and species diversity indicators• Mature Cocoa farms and Long fallow intercrop stock a high amount

of carbon• Cocoa and Long fallow intercrop present high tree species diversity

values

preliminary results

Land USE Carbon T/ha Diversitycocoa1 55.07 0.23cocoa2 99.21 0.37cocoa3 93.63 0.37cocoa4 115.94 0.36YF 34.43 0.14MF 41.57 0.18OF 101.47 0.41SF 130.81 0.41LF 152.91 0.54DF 204.81 0.57

ANY ROLE for REDD+ in small-holder farmers context?

CARBON ENHANCEMENT (RESTORATION) and AVOIDED DEFORESTATION in identified priority areas

Cameroon National forest definition "Forest is a tract of land with a minimal surface of 0.1 hectare, with tree canopy cover of more than 30% (or with an equivalent stand density). The trees or woody vegetation should be able to reach a minimum height of 5 m.”

Depends on what is eligible and on the adopted national forest definition.

methodological challenges for the next steps• Coupled biodiversity inventory and carbon

stock measurement• Uncertainty in carbon estimates due to lack of

suitable allometric equations• What biodiversity and which indicator or

combination of indicators are suitable?• At what spatial scale?

Technology

Smallholders’ agriculture at the tropical forest margin in cameroon opportunities for a landscpe approach to promote agroforestry