Contributions of Agroforestry and soil erosion control

Agroforestry and soil erosion control have an important role to play in both food security and the conservation of the environment. By integrating tree growing with crop production, we can address problems of poor agricultural production, worsening wood shortages and environmental degradation. A structured questionnaire, Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), oral histories, semi-structured interview, participant observation, botanical survey and review of secondary data were the main data collection methods employed in this study. Results indicate that there is a contribution made by agroforestry and soil erosion control in household food security in the four visited villages in Lushoto district. The study has revealed that there is a continuing deforestation in the Shagayu natural forestry despite the fact that households practice agroforestry. There is also the problem of land infertility in the upland farms and therefore production is concentrated in the lowland farms. Nevertheless, many households are food insecure and they need food aid.