Summary and further resources

In this chapter, we saw how agroforestry in the Sahel can boost yields, food sovereignty, income, and overall socio-economic resilience for farmers. This is achieved by making better use of land, leveraging ecosystem services, and increasing resilience to climate change impacts. A key benefit is the improvement of soil health through specific agroforestry practices, such as cut-and-drop mulching of shrubs integrated into fields, which also enhances livestock health. The combination of Sahelian shrubs and trees with crops and livestock takes advantage of the unique, locally adapted characteristics of certain species—such as hydraulic lift, drought resilience, and the provision of forage during the dry season—making these systems effective against desertification. Farmers can adapt agroforestry arrangements, like living fences, to fit their needs, conditions, and goals. Many farmers use a combination of approaches and combine them according to their objectives and available resources.

Watch this video highlighting the benefits of agroforestry in the Sahel and explaining how local tree and shrub species can be combined with crops and animals to design an agricultural system that offers many advantages to farmers, including strengthening their economic resilience through diversification and a smart combination that promotes synergies.

https://youtu.be/WzABL5uK8cU?feature=shared

Certain shrubs and trees, such as Faidherbia (Faidherbia albida), Guiera (Guiera senegalensis), Piliostigma (Piliostigma reticulatum), Gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium), Caïcédrat (Khaya senegalensis), Shea (Vitellaria paradoxa), Desert Date Palm (Balanites), and Acacia rajana, are particularly beneficial and well-suited to agroforestry systems in the Sahel.

Below is an overview of some typical tree and shrub species suitable for agroforestry in the Sahel.

Here are some further resources to learn more about agroforestry:

Booklet: Agroforestry in the Sahel: Recommendations for Enriching Soils, Enhancing Yields, Boosting Animal Health.: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17153079
Manual on local tree species in the Sahel:https://regreeningafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Indigenous-tree-species-guide.pdf
Guides on tree propagation
More learning materials produced by Sustain Sahel: https://www.sustainsahel.net/results-and-learning-materials.html
Scientific insights https://zenodo.org/communities/sustainsahel/

Share the different examples of agroforestry and the different ways of arranging trees and shrubs in agroforestry systems illustrated by the photos in the PowerPoint presentation referenced and show the video: https://youtu.be/WzABL5uK8cU?feature=shared

Also watch our video on how to set up a strip cropping system with trees and shrubs: https://www.accessagriculture.org/fr/cultures-en-couloirs-avec-des-arbres-usage-multiple

Then ask the farmers to draw on a sheet of paper their vision of the agroforestry system and how they would like to arrange the trees and shrubs in their fields and integrate different species.