The challenge of HIV/AIDS: Where does agroforestry fit in? - World ...

188World Agroforestry into the FutureLong-term labour managementCommunities differ in their capacity torecover from external shocks. The timeof recovery after a drought, for example,depends on external factors, such as thetype of agro-ecological zone, and variablefactors, such as labour availability, knowledge,skills and food stocks, including storagefacilities and postharvest management.HIV/AIDS affects all the variable factorsand creates an increased dependency ratioin households, since it kills mostly productiveage adults.Traditional agroforestry systems vary indifferent agro-ecological zones and aresocially and culturally specific. Appropriateagroforestry strategies can help increasethe resilience of communities to externalshocks. Combinations of trees and cropscan be developed jointly with local communitiesin line with their short- and longtermneeds and according to the currentphase of HIV/AIDS. Techniques that havehigh labour requirements to get themstarted should be promoted during the lowimpact phase. Trees planted in the earlystages, when labour is still available, willprovide a source of food several years later,when labour supplies in the household andcommunity may have dwindled.So, although some agroforestry technologiesappear to be labour intensive, especially inthe early stages, they offer a number of benefitstowards the mitigation of HIV/AIDS.1. Increased yields might allow farmers toplant a smaller area of land with maize,reducing labour demand for land preparation,weeding and harvesting. The savingof labour and land would allow thefarmer to grow something else, such asvegetables and/or fruits.2. Most of the agroforestry technologies forimproving soil fertility also produce fuelwoodon farms thus saving the labourTable 2.Field operationWith agroforestry(improved fallows)(%)and energy normally spent gatheringwood (especially relevant for women).3. In some societies, planting trees enhancessecurity of land ownership.4. Improved fallows suppress weeds, therebycutting down the amount of labourneeded for weeding.5. Agroforestry technologies improve soilfertility and produce fodder, thereby reducingthe need for expensive inorganicfertilizer or livestock feed. However,some agroforestry technologies tradelow cost with higher demand for labour.6. Growing medicinal plants on farm preventsover-harvesting of wild varieties.Increasing the relevance ofagroforestry to HIV/AIDSmitigationOne of the defining attributes of agroforestryis its complexity. Across the Africancontinent, farmers have adopted agroforestrysystems that vary greatly in termsof types of goods and services produced,length of production period, market andenvironmental risks, ecological complexity,land, labour and managerial intensity, anddependence on input and output markets.While this complexity may make it difficultto recommend a standard set of agroforestryinterventions, it also means that thevariety of options are relevant to a wideWithout agroforestry(%)Land preparation 27.1 19.2Weeding 26.2 33.7Harvesting 16.9 18.5Source: Ajayi (2003).Time devoted to the three most time-consuming field activities during thecropping season.range of circumstances encountered byhouseholds and communities affected byHIV/AIDS. For example, households thathave absorbed non-family members maybe in a position to establish new agroforestrysystems on crop fields, while householdsthat have lost family members mayadapt trees into their home gardens.Another defining attribute of agroforestryis its tight connection with forestry. Farmersaccess and use trees throughout their landscapes,whether on their farms, on communallands, or on the margins of forests.Access to forests and communal lands affectsfarmers’ decisions on what trees theypreserve, what trees they plant, and howthey manage trees on their farms. Agroforestryinterventions therefore need to bebased on a good understanding of the treesand tree products that are already availableand the potential of agroforestry and otherforest management options for enhancingthe supply of consumable and marketableproducts (such as fodder and fruits) and forsoil fertility and conservation.Preserving and adapting knowledgeAgroforestry systems depend upon localagricultural and biodiversity knowledge tomaintain production. When a productivegeneration is lost, they can no longer passon their livelihood skills and agroforestry