CHARACTERIZATION OF AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS AND THEIR IMPACT ON THE WELL-BEING OF THE POPULATION OF THE SUDANO-SAHELIAN ZONE OF CAMEROON

Hamawa Yougouda, Abdou Salam, Félix Alain Wassouo, Youhana Dangaï and Pierre Marie Mapongmetsem

International Journal of Agriculture and Environmental Research, vol. 11, issue 4

Abstract: The demographic explosion in developing countries leads to a loss of biodiversity and insufficient of arable land. One of the challenges facing these countries is to produce enough goods and services to meet the needs of their population. This study aims to: (i) characterize the structure and practices of agroforestry systems based on mango and cashew trees in the Sudano-Sahelian zone; (ii) study the floristic composition of agroforestry systems and (iii) assess their impact on agricultural production and the well-being of the population of the Sudano-Sahelian zone of Cameroon. To do this, a participatory and reiterative analysis using a semi-structured questionnaire conducted among 90 farmers spread across five villages and combined with an ecological study was conducted. The results showed that agroforestry systems have a small area and are more than 20 years old in the majority. A total of 37 species grouped in 35 genera and 22 families were identified. Individuals had a “J”-shaped vertical distribution with a strong dominance of individuals of the past. The annual production of agroforestry systems is estimated at 71.3 tons. The main products were fruits (27.5 tons), onions (19.4 tons) and cereals (12.5 tons). Food, construction and medicine were the main uses of these systems while microclimate moderation (95.2%), conservation and restoration of fertility (75.2%), biodiversity conservation (95.4%) were the most important services encountered. Agroforestry systems offered enormous potential to increase production and to improve the goods and services and also provided a sustainable benefit to the population. It is therefore urgent to develop them in this study zone to not only counteract the degradation of forests but also improve the living conditions of the populations.

Keywords: Agribusiness; Crop Production/Industries; Resource/Energy Economics and Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/371466/files/ijaer_11__71.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:ijaeri:371466

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.371466

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in International Journal of Agriculture and Environmental Research from Malwa International Journals Publication
Bibliographic data for series maintained by AgEcon Search ().