Correspondents' Correspondence Agroforestry
LAND, THOMAS
Agroforestry Rome—Millions of rural African and Asian families have been reduced to having their meals cold, or to planting food that can be eaten raw, as a result of what has been dubbed the "poor...
...Thomas Land...
...In the Kerma Basin of northern Sudan, for example, land from the Nubian Desert is being reclaimed by planting prosppis ckilen-sis and eucalyptus trees as windbreaks, and it is hoped that this once-fertile area can again be planted with grain and vegetable crops...
...The Nairobi based institute-headed by Dr...
...Canada's International Development Research Centre has, in fact, been deeply involved in the work of the institute since its inception...
...And according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the "crisis" will intensify as fuelwood consumption in the Third World?currently estimated at 46 million cubic feet a year—increases by an expected 40 per cent over the next 15 years...
...Agroforestry Rome—Millions of rural African and Asian families have been reduced to having their meals cold, or to planting food that can be eaten raw, as a result of what has been dubbed the "poor man's energy crisis...
...With serious shortages on the horizon," King explains, "it makes no sense to continue managing [tropical] forests with methods that are outmoded or ill-suited to man's needs----" The answer, he and his associates believe, is a sustainable land-management system—one that at the same time increases the yield of land, combines the production of crops (including tree-crops), forest plants and animals, and applies practices compatible with the culture of the local population...
...Agroforestry itself is not new, says King...
...Such promising projects, along with other scientific and economic research, are expected to be the center of discussion at an early May international seminar on tropical hardwoods in Amsterdam, organized by the United Nation's Economic Commission for Europe...
...The widespread destruction of the great tropical forests—by inefficient logging operations and shifting agricultural practices?has led to a gaping shortage of wood, the basic heating and cooking fuel in most developing nations...
...ICRAF's activities have also attracted the attention of the research and aid establishments in the rich countries that have advanced forestry industries...
...Kenneth King of Guyana, who previously served as assistant director general of the FAO—is seeking to bring about a new "green revolution" through a more comprehensive approach to agroforestry...
...In Kenya, where many plantations that were established in areas of high rainfall are now being felled for farms, foresters are trying to discover which species will grow best on marginal lands...
...What is new," he claims, "is the realization that there is a need to create a new discipline of agroforestry, to use lands that cover over half the land surface of the developing world in a manner that effectively conserves the physical environment yet develops the human being...
...National and international groups are seeking to halt the disappearance of the forests by implementing a plan put forward by the International Council for Research in Agroforestry (IC-RAF...
...Similarly, in Egypt research is advancing to breed an improved type of casuarina for shelter belts...
...Agroforestry, notes King, can even be practiced on soils that are inherently infertile, or prone to accelerated erosion, but must nevertheless support large numbers of people...
Vol. 62 • April 1979 • No. 8
