Impact pathway for agroforestry in North Africa and the greater Sahel
The impact pathway forms a basis for planning agroforestry as an intervention within the policy domain. It also helps to form the basis for the work within the project. The impact pathway helps us to identify processes whereby actions can best attain their intended consequences. In this pathway, we identify essential interactions and the general preconditions deemed necessary to achieve desired goals of agroforestry in the greater Sahel and North Africa.
The alluvial plot could support impact pathways of agroforestry.
Possible impact pathways could be:
- Technology Development and Adoption Pathway
- Capacity Development Pathway
- Policy Influence Pathway
Figure generated with the agroforestry_alluvial function, outlining the multiple possible influences of agroforestry
For each intervention at each scale we will need to determine the influence on the outcomes of interest. Here we do that in the form of a simple .csv file. This is the current level of the UI. More could be done with that.
Example of the data format required for the agroforestry_alluvial function, outlining the multiple possible influences of agroforestry
The discourse on agroforestry, ecosystem services, and sustainability highlights the interplay of instrumental and relational values across various scales (van Noordwijk 2021).
Overview of possible influence of agroforestry
Figure outlining the multiple possible influences of agroforestry
Sahel's Agroforestry Potential: In the Sahel, where low biomass production leads to soil erosion, agroforestry parklands can address challenges by providing green fodder, fruits, and soil cover (Kuyah et al. 2020).
Global Recognition of Agroforestry: Agroforestry, integrating trees in production systems, is globally recognized for conservation and development goals (Miller et al. 2017).
Evidence Gaps and Challenges: Despite widespread promotion, rigorous evidence on the effects of agroforestry interventions on farmers' land remains limited (Miller et al. 2017).
Agroforestry in Sub-Saharan Africa: Agroforestry systems in SSA offer diverse products, supporting livelihoods and providing essential ecosystem services (Kuyah et al. 2020).
Historical Context: Historically, Sahelian farmers preserved trees, recognizing their benefits even when facing changing circumstances and land pressure (Guy 1980).
Challenges and Opportunities in Shea Production: Land tenure, political, and cultural issues threaten shea production, requiring changes in markets, technologies, and addressing social and political threats (Lovett and Phillips 2018).
Sahel's Current Challenges: The Sahel faces challenges such as endemic poverty, demographic surge, and food insecurity amid a changing climate (Grist and Harvey 2017).
Approaches to Landscape Analysis: Landscape analysis contributes to the evidence base, while landscape facilitation focuses on action research for development, effectiveness, and equity (Minang et al. 2014).
References
Grist, Natasha, and Blane Harvey. 2017. Framing innovations for climate resilience for farmers in the Sahel.
Guy, Russell E. 1980. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, Virginia. Rocks & Minerals 55: 158–161. https://doi.org/10.1080/00357529.1980.11764651.
Kuyah, Shem, G. W. Sileshi, Eike Luedeling, F. K. Akinnifesi, Cory W. Whitney, Jules Bayala, E. Kuntashula, K. Dimobe, and P. L. Mafongoya. 2020. Potential of Agroforestry to Enhance Livelihood Security in Africa. In Agroforestry for Degraded Landscapes, ed. Jagdish Chander Dagar, Sharda Rani Gupta, and Demel Teketay, 135–167. Singapore: Springer Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4136-0_4.
Lovett, Peter, and Lawrance Phillips. 2018. Agroforestry Shea Parklands of Sub-Saharan Africa: Threats and Solutions.
Miller, Daniel, Pablo Ordonez, Kathy Baylis, Karl Hughes, and Pushpendra Rana. 2017. PROTOCOL: Protocol for an evidence and gap map The impacts of agroforestry on agricultural productivity, ecosystem services, and human well‐being in low‐ and middle‐income countries: an evidence and gap map. Campbell Systematic Reviews 13: 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.187.
Minang, Peter A., Meine van Noordwijk, Olivia E. Freeman, Cheikh Mbow, Jan de Leeuw, and Delia Catacutan. 2014. Climate-Smart Landscapes: Multifunctionality in Practice. ASB Partnership for The Tropical Forest margins.
van Noordwijk, Meine. 2021. Agroforestry-Based Ecosystem Services: Reconciling Values of Humans and Nature in Sustainable Development. Land 10. Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute: 699. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10070699.