Agroforestry practices and food security in the mount Bamboutos landscape, Western Highlands of Cameroon
1 Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD), Ekona Research Centre, PMB 25 Buea, South West Region Cameroon.
2 Environment and Rural Development Foundation (ERuDeF), Civil Society Building, Co-Cathedral Road Molyko Buea, South West Region Cameroon.
Research Article
World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2021, 11(01), 203–211
Article DOI: 10.30574/wjarr.2021.11.1.0311
Publication history:
Received on 02 June 2021; revised on 19 July 2021; accepted on 22 July 2021
Abstract:
This study presents agroforestry practices by farmers in Mount Bamboutos, why they adopt agroforestry practices and main constraints towards adoption as well as the relationship between agroforestry practices and household food security. A purposive sampling technique was used to administer 195 questionnaires. Data collected were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The demographic information analyzed showed that the majority of respondents were males (76%) and all were literate with a majority using fuel wood as their main source of energy. The major agroforestry practices were, planting of fodder, fertilizer, fruit and timber trees, compost manure and farm yard manure preparation. The highest year of adoption of agroforestry practices was in 2019. Most (50%) of the respondents adopted agroforestry practices for better crop yields. However, the main constraints to agroforestry adoption were lack of training, lack of seeds and much labour involved. Lack of training was the greatest constraint cited by respondents. 39% of the respondents were food secure and apart from compost manure practice that was negatively associated with food security, all the other agroforestry practices were positively associated with food security. Based on findings of this study, it is recommended that extension agents and other stakeholders should intensify efforts to educate and train more farmers on the practice and advantages of agroforestry. This will go a long way to increase adoption rate while ensuring food security.
Keywords:
Agroforestry; Adoption; Constraints; Food security
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Copyright © 2021 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0