Assessing Context-Specific Factors to Increase Tree Survival for Scaling Ecosystem Restoration Efforts in East Africa

Christine Magaju,Kiros Hadgu,Phosiso Sola,Fergus Sinclair,Anne Kuria,Esther Kiura,Ibrahim Ochenje,Mary Crossland,Sammy Carsan,Enrico Bonaiuti,Jonathan Muriuki,Niguse Hagazi,Hassen Ouerghemmi,Aymen Frija,Leigh Ann Winowiecki

doi:10.3390/land9120494

Abstract

Increasing tree cover in agricultural lands can contribute to achieving global and national restoration goals, more so in the drylands where trees play a key role in enhancing both ecosystem and livelihood resilience of the communities that depend on them. Despite this, drylands are characterized by low tree survival especially for tree species preferred by local communities. We conducted a study in arid and semi-arid areas of Kenya and Ethiopia with 1773 households to assess how different tree planting and management practices influence seedling survival. Using on-farm planned comparisons, farmers experimented and compared tree survival under different planting and management practices as well as under varying socioeconomic and biophysical contexts in the two countries. Seedling survival was monitored at least six months after planting. Results show that watering, manure application, seedling protection by fencing and planting in a small hole (30 cm diameter and 45 cm depth) had a significant effect on tree seedling survival in Kenya, while in Ethiopia, mulching, watering and planting niche were significant to tree survival. Household socioeconomics and farms’ biophysical characteristics such as farm size, education level of the household head, land tenure, age of the household head had significant effects on seedling survival in both Ethiopia and Kenya while presence of soil erosion on the farm had a significant effect in Kenya. Soil quality ranking was positively correlated with tree survival in Ethiopia, regardless of species assessed. Current findings have confirmed effects of context specific variables some involving intrahousehold socioeconomic status such education level of the household head, and farm size that influence survival.

Highlights

Restoration and avoiding further degradation through treeestablishment can be a key pathway towards achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals if successful restoration efforts can reachLand 2020, 9, 494; doi:10.3390/land9120494 www.mdpi.com/journal/landLand 2020, 9, 494 larger numbers of farmers and hectares over the coming decade
The results show that planting and management practices such as watering and watering regime, manure application and seedling protection by fencing had a significant effect on tree seedling survival
Additional discussion with farmers revealed that tree species such as Melia volkensii which are indigenous to arid and semi-arid areas are sensitive to waterlogging especially when young [42] and perform better when planted in smaller planting holes, while fruit trees such as Mangifera indica have a higher water requirement and perform better when planted in bigger planting holes

Summary

Introduction

Restoration and avoiding further degradation through tree (re)establishment can be a key pathway towards achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals if successful restoration efforts can reachLand 2020, 9, 494; doi:10.3390/land9120494 www.mdpi.com/journal/landLand 2020, 9, 494 larger numbers of farmers and hectares over the coming decade. Achieving the restoration goals outlined in international and national commitments will require promotion of context-specific land restoration options across diverse social, economic, and biophysical realities [2,3,4]. These options will need to be scaled up and out across the scaling domains [5]. Farmers targeted by restoration efforts work in complex, heterogenous and dynamic systems and, as such, no one single restoration option can suit all [3,4,6,7] Many factors, both socioeconomic and biophysical, can affect the suitability and performance of the restoration options at different scales [8]. These include household characteristics such as farm size, age of the household head as well as education level and labor availability, farming practices, land degradation status, the policy environment [5,9] as well as farmer values and preferences [5,6,10,11]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion