Adoption of Agroforestry Practices in and around the Luki Biosphere Reserve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Michel Mbumba Bandi (), Martin Bitijula Mahimba, Paul Mafuka Mbe Mpie, Alphonse Roger Ntoto M’vubu and Damase P. Khasa ()
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Michel Mbumba Bandi: Department of Natural Resource Management, Faculty of Agronomic Sciences, University of Kinshasa, BP 127 Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Martin Bitijula Mahimba: Department of Natural Resource Management, Faculty of Agronomic Sciences, University of Kinshasa, BP 127 Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Paul Mafuka Mbe Mpie: Department of Natural Resource Management, Faculty of Agronomic Sciences, University of Kinshasa, BP 127 Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Alphonse Roger Ntoto M’vubu: Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agronomic Sciences, University of Kinshasa, BP 127 Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Damase P. Khasa: Centre for Forest Research and Institute of Integrative and Systems Biology, Department of Wood and Forest Sciences, Faculty of Forestry, Geography and Geomatics, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC G1V 0A6, Canada

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 16, 1-13

Abstract: Despite the technical, socio-economic and environmental challenges, indigenous subsistence agroforestry, generally referred to as slash-and-burn agriculture or bush-fallow farming, is a common practice for local populations in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This study analyzed the proportion of adopters and non-adopters, together with other factors that influence farmers’ choices of adopting agroforestry or that discourage its adoption in the Luki Biosphere Reserve (LBR) area. Data were collected through a survey of 390 households using a structured questionnaire. A logistic regression model, with SPSS Statistics software was fitted to the data against a binary response (1 = adopt; 0 = not adopt). The proportion of adopters of agroforestry practices in the LBR area far exceeds (more than three-fold) that of non-adopters. Six factors exert a positive and significant ( p -value = 5%) effect on peasant decisions to adopt agroforestry practices in LBR, including age (51 to 60 years old), marital status, education level, main activity, land tenure and farmers’ membership in a local association. Gender, other age categories, household size, number of years of agroforestry experience, number of assets, distance between residence and fields, and access to credit did not positively influence the adoption of these practices. The results of this study would help engage the indigenous community with different sectors and disseminate agroforestry as a sustainable practice appropriate to the real needs of local populations.

Keywords: adoption determinants; Congo basin; Democratic Republic of Congo; Luki Biosphere Reserve; subsistence agroforestry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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