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SUSTAINABILITY

Agroforestry in the Sahel

Nature Geoscience volume 11, pages 296–297 (2018)Cite this article

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West African farmers adjust tree cover to realize the co-benefits of agroforestry, according to analyses of remote sensing data.

In agriculturally intensive regions devoted to large-scale production of field crops, woody plants are a nuisance: trees and shrubs are cleared to make way for highly mechanized and highly productive fields of wheat, maize, rice, soy, sugarcane, potatoes and other row crops. The socio-economic context is such that the loss of trees, and the potential services they provide, is an acceptable trade-off, given the higher yields and economic benefits that come with intensified farming practices. For subsistence farmers in Africa and elsewhere, however, where the ability to invest in mechanization and intensification may be lacking, the potential benefits from woody plants can shift the trade-off balance to favour woody plants in agricultural landscapes. Writing in Nature Geoscience, Brandt et al.1 report that farmers in the semi-arid Sahel and seasonal woodlands of West Africa have contrasting effects on tree canopy cover. In particular, they find that farmlands in the drier Sahelian region have enhanced tree cover, relative to adjacent non-agricultural savannahs, while in the more humid regions, tree cover is reduced in agricultural areas.

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Fig. 1: Sahelian agroforestry.

Paul Kingsley / Alamy Stock Photo

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  1. Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA

    Niall P. Hanan

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  1. Niall P. Hanan
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Correspondence to Niall P. Hanan.

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Hanan, N.P. Agroforestry in the Sahel. Nature Geosci 11, 296–297 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-018-0112-x

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