UGANDA MARTYRS UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF AGRICULTURE

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN AGRICULTURE

BSAG 4227: AGROFORESTRY MANAGEMENT

YEAR: FOUR SEMESTER TWO

STUDENT: BADA ROBERT

REG. NO: 2019-B053-11585

Tel: 0753575870

Email:badarobert11@gmail.com
 Enhancing food security and preserving vital ecosystem services from agricultural lands are

critical issues for Uganda and have become increasingly important globally. Record a video of

not less than 15 minutes and not more than 20 minutes discussing how the element of

Agroforestry incorporated in the farming system has helped farmers achieve this objective you

can visit a farm or a combination of farms or you can even use your own farm.

Note

- In your explanation we expect to see practically how Agro forestry is contributing to food
security and preserving the vital ecosystems with examples.

- You should be able to identify and explain the different ecosystem services (Provisioning,
regulating, cultural, and supporting services) provided by the different agroforestry systems
practically.

- Endeavour to be included in the video either when you’re explaining or interviewing another
person Feel free to use your phone or you can hire a video camera for better and quality video.

- Try as much as possible to take time and edit where necessary and improve on the audibility for
better marks

- Prepare a write up to accompany your video.

AGRO FORESTRY: According to FAO, ‘It is an integrated system of rural land resource
management based on the combination of shrubs and trees together with crops and livestock
whose interaction generates economic, environmental and social benefits.’
It can also be defined as land use management system where trees and shrubs are grown around
or among crops or livestock and pasture land.

CONTRIBUTION OF AGROFORESTRY to the preservation of vital ecosystems and food

security;
Based on the 1996 World Food Summit, food security is defined when all people, at all times, have
physical and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and
food preferences for an active and healthy life.
By adopting to Agroforestry practices; small holder farmers are able to increase food security
while sequesting carbon from the atmosphere and enhancing other essential ecosystem.
Incorporating trees into existing Agricultural practices improves food security through foods that
grows on various trees especially the indigenous and exotic fruit trees which are nutritious like
wild grapes among others.
They help in income generation inorder to increase access to food security especially food
insecurity and poverty that are closely related or linked.
It reduces farmer’s resilience to the shocks of drought, flooding, pest out break including disease
outbreak which decreases food security in the countries like Uganda.
Agroforestry supports ecosystem services that further reduces food insecurity by planting trees
along side with crops hence creating microclimates that shelters the crops from intense sun shine
and heavy rain and protection from pests, flooding and erosion.
They support animal production hence improves soil fertility through the droppings that are
incorporated in soil so as to boast humus that adds soil nutrients for better plants growth key
macro plant nutrients like Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium
Agroforestry boasts or supports the populations of pollinator species for example insects like
bees, moths and birds like sunny birds that are essential for many crops that integrates bee
farming with Agroforestry system so as to increase biodiversity and food security goals in
Uganda.
Increased biodiversity which comes from integrating trees into Agricultural land contributes to
food and nutrition security of rural farmers in the country like Uganda.
Some small scale farmers in Uganda have now seen the importance of agroforestry as a way of
mitigating the impact of climate change while increasing food and nutritional security by
planting edible fruit trees like jackfruits, cashewnuts among others.

Ecosystem services
These have been called by different names through human history, but presently it is gaining global
attention as ‘ecosystem services’,
Defined as the set of diverse ecological functions that are essential to human welfare.
These services can provide significant, measurable benefits to humanity and potentially providing an
economic argument for ecosystem conservation.
Ecosystems services are becoming so degraded that many regions in the world risk ecological collapse
yet, their ecological and economic importance is poorly understood.
Generally, ecosystem services are grouped into four categories namely:
(1) Provisioning services
(2) Regulating services,
(3) Supporting services and
(4) Cultural services.
The following main ecosystem services are
Discussed as below;
Provisioning Services are the products obtained from ecosystems, including genetic resources, food,
energy, fibre and fresh water.
Food and medicinal products Non-timber forest products such as fruits, medicinal products,
mushrooms, honey, caterpillars, flying termites and bush meat are obtained from the woodlands and
are central to the livelihoods of both rural and urban dwellers.
Indigenous fruits form a staple food during the hunger periods in the agricultural cycle and periods of
famine.
Fruits are used as food, beverages, and sources of essential oils for cooking. Improved utilization and
commercialization of tree products is considered as incentive for conservation, and as a deterrent.
The bark extract of fruit trees such as Sclerocarya birrea are used for the treatment of diseases such as
malaria, dysentery, diarrhoea and rheumatism.
The forests are also a source of other food such as honey and edible caterpillars. Several different types
of caterpillars are of increasing socio-economic importance among local people like the Chidumayo and
Mbata. This offers opportunities for integration of edible caterpillars into agroforestry systems
 The demand for fuel wood and charcoal continue to rise while growth of trees and shrubs occur at a
slower rate.
Agro-processing operations such as tobacco curing requires large quantities of fuel wood. For example,
of tobacco is required for flue and fire-cured tobacco.
This accounts for 4 - 26% of the deforestation in eco-region, Agroforestry practices can provide
significant amounts of fuel wood.
Agroforestry plantations are probably the only option to meet a major share of the wood demand.
Biofuel production from species such as eucalyptus, teak, and mahogany can also be integrated with
agroforestry practices including contour planting, live fences and hedges. Fodder the majority of the
smallholder farmers in the eco-region keep livestock under rangeland conditions.

Regulating Services; these are the benefits obtained from processes, including the regulation of climate,
control of flood and some human diseases. Microclimate modification Trees and shrubs in agroforestry
systems can contribute to better microclimate by providing shade and windbreak. The trees bring about
a whole complex of environmental changes, affecting not just available light but also air temperature,
humidity, soil temperature, soil moisture content, wind movement, pest and disease
Regulating Services Regulating services are the benefits obtained from processes, including the
regulation of climate, control of flood and some human diseases. Microclimate modification Trees and
shrubs in agroforestry systems can contribute to better microclimate by providing shade and windbreak.
The trees bring about a whole complex of environmental changes, affecting not just available light but
also air temperature, humidity, soil temperature, soil moisture content, wind movement, pest and
disease
Erosion control and soil conservation

Supporting services supporting ecosystem services are those that are necessary for the production of all
other ecosystem services. Some examples include biomass production, production of atmospheric
oxygen, soil formation and retention, nutrient cycling, water cycling, and provisioning of habitat

Biomass production and soil fertility improvement Trees planted in contour strips, improved fallows,
rotational woodlots and intercrops with crops fix nitrogen and produce large amounts of biomass that
improve soil quality. The repeated application of tree biomass to the soil increases soil organic matter
that leads to important increases in soil water retention capacity providing good environment for soil
microbes and plant nutrients during its decomposition. These services cannot be offered under
conventional crop monocultures.

Biodiversity conservation the accelerated extinction of species may disrupt vital ecosystem processes
and services, Reductions in species abundance and richness are also likely to have far-reaching
consequences, including the loss of agricultural pest control, and the spread of disease.

Agroforestry practices harbour more soil invertebrates than a monoculture maize and Agroforestry
practices also harbours about the same diversity and abundance of soil invertebrates as This diversity
can, in time, provide ecological resilience and contribute to the maintenance of beneficial ecological
functions such as pest suppression. Even simple practices such as rotational fallows could suppress
insect pests and weeds

Pollination Evidence is increasing on the negative impact of agricultural practices on honey bees and
other native bee communities that provide pollination services. The decline of pollination services with
agricultural intensification resulted from significant reductions in both diversity and total abundance of
native bees.

Agricultural intensification may affect functionally important pollinator species hence Restoring
pollination services in areas of great agricultural intensity as reducing insecticide use and restores native
or surrogate vegetation that provides nesting habitat and floral resources for bees.

Agroforestry can improve beekeeping in some trees used in agroforestry which produces nectar and
pollen and improved bee hives can be introduced in the fruit orchards, woodlots or fodder banks.

Cultural services are the non-material benefits people obtain from ecosystems through spiritual
enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation, and aesthetic experience, including
knowledge systems, social relations, and aesthetic values, trees play a big role in the cultural and
spiritual lives of local communities, the fruit tree like shearnut trees are considered as a sacred tree and
are cut when clearing forests are known to be of great importance due to their cultural value.

Agroforestry appropriately places the traditional values given by local communities to such trees in the
context of conservation and production.