Abstract
Parkland agroforestry which is a system practiced for many local populations is very important for food security, microclimate amelioration, income generation and environmental protection, and is found at different corners of the world, primarily in the semi-arid and sub-humid zones of Africa. It is reported that agroforestry practice is an aged practice in the Ethiopian farming systems of which parkland trees comprise the large part of agricultural landscapes and it is also the most dominant agroforestry practice in the semi-arid and sub-humid zones of Ethiopia. This study was conducted on farmers’ parkland Agroforestry practice in Burka Ebela of Bule Hora District Southern Ethiopia which was purposely selected. The objective of this study was to assess contribution of parkland Agroforestry practices to the rural livelihood community. A total of 90 respondents were selected in a systematic sample way from total households of 888 in the study area based on formula used. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The result obtained from the survey showed that, 11 tree species as parkland tree were identified. From those identified tree species the most preferred trees by farmers are: <i>Accia Abyssinica, Accia Albida, Cordia Africana, Croton Macrostachyus Eucalyptus, FicusVasta, Millettia Ferruginea, Podocarpus Falcatus, Rhamnus Priniode and Ricicus Commonis</i> and community used those trees for different purpose such as; for food security, microclimate amelioration, economic benefits, environmental protection, household energy, household utensils, cultural values, traditional medicines and fodder. Challenge to parkland Agroforestry practice in the study area were the exotic tree expansion, plant diseases transmission from old trees to young trees, small land size and lack of replanting. Moreover, these trees are facing challenges like: expansion of cash crops through removal of the parkland trees from the farm area. Even though common management of parkland agroforestry system on the study area was thinning and prunings, more people do not management parkland tree well.
Highlights
A Parkland agroforestry practice is the consistent presence of well grown trees distributed on cultivated or recently tilled fields [1]
The result from the formal survey indicated that shade service for human, livestock and coffee is the best criteria followed by tree species that are conducive for beehives placing
Cordia africana uses for shade service, conduciveness for beehives placing, ability to increase soil fertility, bee fodder, use for construction, fast decomposability, use for bee hives making, having low branch volume and palatable leaves by animals are the selection criteria that were used by the farmers in the study area for tree species incorporation in to the parkland agroforestry practices
Summary
A Parkland agroforestry practice is the consistent presence of well grown trees distributed on cultivated or recently tilled fields [1]. Agroforestry is the art and science of growing woody and non woody plants together on the same unit of land for arrange of benefit [3]. It is the use of land for combination of agriculture and forestry. In other words it is the practice of growing tree crops or some other fast growing trees along with the main crop. It is one of the important sustainable land management techniques involving a combination of different agricultural, horticultural, forestry, and livestock practice [4]
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