Agroforestry and fighting poverty with trees - The BusyTrees Campaign | Permaculture Magazine

This article from #Permaculture Magazine caught my eye. iCreate is about both creativity and sustainability. This idea is both. The article is also about desert agriculture and issues the community garden has had to deal with: water and shading young plants from strong sun. We could use a few Faidherbia albida trees too. I wonder how these members of the acacia family handle altitude?

"Jessie Bernard describes how agroforestry can make a big difference, relieving poverty and increasing food security in countries in Africa and other parts of the 'developing' world. By improving nutrition, agroforestry can also save lives..."

Bumper harvests

"Mixing the right trees with complimentary crops can boost yields and enhance incomes in poor regions such as Africa. Maize farmers In Malawi, for example, have doubled and even tripled their harvests by introducing the fertiliser tree Faidherbia albida onto their plots.

"Faidherbia is a nitrogen-fixing acacia that improves the soil while providing good shade for poor farmers' young maize seedlings early in their growth when they need it most," explains Paul Stapleton from the World Agroforestry Centre. "But the tree sheds its leaves in the rainy season, which means that maize crops grown with Faidherbia get the maximum sunlight when they mature – just when they need."

And that's not the only benefit of this particular species. Because it has a very deep tap root, Faidherbia is drought resistant, and doesn't compete with shallow-rooted maize crops for water. Plus, the nitrogen-rich leaves are a fantastic fertiliser for poor farmers who can't afford pricey and environmentally risky chemicals."

Agroforestry and fighting poverty with trees - The BusyTrees Campaign

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