Abstract
Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) comprises a set of practices used by farmers to encourage the growth of native trees on agricultural land. FMNR is reported to deliver a number of positive impacts, including increasing agricultural productivity through soil fertility improvement and feed for livestock, incomes, and other environmental benefits. It is widely promoted in Africa as a cost-effective way of restoring degraded land, that overcomes the challenge of low survival rates associated with tree planting in arid and semi-arid areas. Despite being widely promoted, the evidence for these bold claims about FMNR has not been systematically analyzed. This paper reviews the scientific evidence related to the contexts in which FMNR is practiced across sub-Saharan Africa, how this influences the composition of regenerating vegetation, and the resulting environmental and socio-economic benefits derived from it. This reveals that quantitative evidence on FMNR outcomes is sparse and mainly related to experience in the Maradi and Zinder regions of Niger. There is little mechanistic understanding relating how context conditions the diversity and abundance of regenerating trees and how this in turn is related to ecosystem function and livelihood benefits. This makes it difficult to determine where and for whom FMNR is an appropriate restoration technique and where it might be necessary to combine it with enrichment planting. Given the need for viable restoration practices for agricultural land across Africa, well beyond the climatic and edaphic contexts covered by existing FMNR studies, we recommend research combining functional ecology and socio-economic assessments, embedded as co-learning components within scaling up initiatives. This would fill key knowledge gaps, enabling the development of context-sensitive advice on where and how to promote FMNR, as well as the calculation of the return on investment of doing so.
Highlights
It is estimated that up to 65% of productive land in Africa is degraded, exacerbating poverty, food and nutrition insecurity, loss of biodiversity, conflicts and insecurity (UNCCD, 2013; ELD-UNEP, 2015)
We reviewed the scientific literature on Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) structured around three aspects: (1) context, i.e., the social, economic and ecological conditions under which FMNR is practiced; 2) composition, i.e., the characterization of what woody vegetation arises from FMNR in terms of density, species diversity and functional properties; and (3) consequences, i.e., the benefits that are derived from FMNR
The evidence underpinning promotion of FMNR as a restoration practice in Africa was reviewed in the previous sections covering the ecological and socio-economic context under which it is practiced, the composition of the resulting regenerated vegetation and the environmental and socio-economic benefits derived from it
Summary
It is estimated that up to 65% of productive land in Africa is degraded, exacerbating poverty, food and nutrition insecurity, loss of biodiversity, conflicts and insecurity (UNCCD, 2013; ELD-UNEP, 2015). FMNR has led to restoration of approximately 5–6 M ha, in Maradi and Zinder regions in Niger, while donor resources expended on extensive tree planting activities have typically resulted in low tree survival rates of only around 20% (Tougiani et al, 2009) This has led to FMNR being scaled up in the Sahel to other regions of TABLE 1 | Definitions of related terms associated with establishment of woody vegetation as a restoration strategy as used in the present review
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
