Agroforestry practice in villages surrounding Nyamure former refugee camp, Nyanza District: tree species and purpose

Abstract

An assessment of fuel wood situation and the contribution of agroforestry and woodlot resources to the supply of household fuel wood requirements were carried out in ten villages surrounding Nyamure former refugee camp, Nyanza District in the Southern Province. A total of 158 households were surveyed in February 2008. Surveyed households were selected randomly from village registries or lists of existing households. Semistructured questionnaires and participant observation methods were used to collect primary data. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze the data. Out of the 158 households surveyed, 94% of respondents were farmers. Ninety six percent of respondents used primarily firewood and 68% had improved firewood stoves. Thirty six
percent owned small woodlots whereas 70% had either planted or retained trees on their farms. The dominant agroforestry tree species was Grevillea robusta (69%) whereas Eucalyptus sp. dominated woodlots (100%). The major purposes of planting or retaining trees were: fuel wood supply (49%), building material (48.1%), food (31.7%) and soil conservation (35.6%). Despite all reforestation efforts, there was shortage of wood products
and farmers often switched to crop residues for fuel (almost 47% of respondents) and often walked long distances (almost 13% of respondents walked more than 2 hours in search of
fuel wood) to the remnant pockets of public woodlands. Therefore, there is need for joint management of public forest lands. Furthermore, given the land shortage, efforts should be
directed to agroforestry and more efficient agricultural technologies.