Fellowship Year:
2018
Degree:
MEM
Research Country:
Rwanda
Research Continent:
Africa
Partner Organization:
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Abstract:
In July and August 2018, I conducted 70 semi-structured interviews with Rwandan smallholder farmers about their agroforestry practices, including 38 farmers who participated in FAO Farmer Field Schools. Four focus groups of 8 farmers were also conducted. Preliminary impressions of data reveal several themes likely to be important for practitioners seeking to promote agroforestry adoption in Rwanda: existing widespread agroforestry practice, changing perceptions of agroforestry, improvements in soil control, benefits from Farmer Field School participation, forest-product-oriented agroforestry, severe climate change impacts, damage to trees from dry conditions, challenges due to the timing of tree planting, and tree seedling availability challenges. Comprehensive qualitative coding of interview data and quantitative analysis of factors correlated to agroforestry adoption are currently in progress.