Examining the expansion of agroforestry practices and their management practices in the central highlands of Ethiopia

Abstract

Agroforestry is an emerging livelihood strategy for meeting the fundamental requirements of millions of rural households, yet quantifying its expansion and management practices in Ethiopia remains limited. This study investigated the trends, extents and drivers of agroforestry expansion and related management practices in the central highlands of Ethiopia. A two-stage sampling method was employed to select 160 rural households that engaged in home garden and woodlot agroforestry practices. The data were collected via semi-structured questionnaires, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions and analyzed using descriptive statistics, content analysis, the Kruskal-Wallis test, and the Mann‒Whitney U test. The results demonstrated that there was a significant difference in the mean size (in hectares) of home gardens and woodlot agroforestry practices (p < 0.05). There has been an increasing trend in the adoption and expansion of agroforestry practices, both in home gardens and woodlots. The rate of agroforestry expansion increased from 0.23 % before the 1980s to 3.95 % between 2011 and 2022. The expansion of agroforestry practices, particularly the increase in home garden size and woodlot establishment, was positively influenced by increased market demand, increased seedling availability, increased availability of labor, improved knowledge of agroforestry benefits, and increased proximity to homes and roads. Furthermore, the findings demonstrated that rural households implemented weeding, pruning, thinning, looping, pollarding, fertilizer application, watering, coppicing, fencing, and mulching to maintain and optimize the productivity of their agroforestry systems. Policymakers and stakeholders should consider developing targeted programs and incentives to further encourage the expansion of both home gardens and woodlot agroforestry practices.