1. EverGreen Agriculture
Evidence of Economic Benefits
And Challenges for Scaling up
Frank Place
World Agroforestry Centre
May 2014

2. In the following slides:
Some evidence of the economic benefits of
the following types of tree practices:
• Tree products
• Livestock
• Crop yields

3. Tree Foods – there are some commercial
successes – 1 is Mango
Mango production in KENYA has increased significantly between 2005 and
2010 (more than 100% according to GoK stats).
Exports were $10 million in 2010 and domestic sales about $70 million (and
much more production is subsistence)
In full production, the net profit per
hectare is about $500 which is high
compared to most annual crops
MALI has grown its exports of mangoes
from 1500 tons in late 1990s to to 4000
tons now

4. Vitellaria paradoxa (shea)
Production of almost 1 million
tons, exports of more than
350,000 tons (at value of $300
– $500 per ton)
Much of the shea is used
domestically (fruit and kernal
for food)
1 million women involved in
the value chain in northern
Ghana and Burkina Faso

5. Fuelwood Production
Drylands produce much of the firewood and charcoal for local and urban
consumption
In 2013, the retail value of charcoal used in Kenya was estimated at $920
million (Owen 2013).
By 2030, the charcoal market is predicted to exceed US$ 12 billion,
employing 12 million people (World Bank 2011)
Wood as input to producing other types of energy is also emerging as a
viable value chain
As agriculture expands, opportunities grow for farmers to
increasingly participate to meet these growing demands

6. Description of a 2011-2012 Study in the Sahel
on the Economic Benefits of Farmer Managed
Natural Regeneration
4 countries: Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal
Selected broad areas were regreening had occurred, specific areas that
differed by rainfall and market access
1080 households surveyed
altogether
Complete inventory of trees
made

7. Country Value of
harvested
tree products
per
household
(USD)
Value of
marketed tree
products per
household
(USD)
% of hhs with
sales of tree
products
Mean Mean %
Burkina Faso
181 64 45
Mali
254 73 51
Niger
267 12 18
Senegal
119 37 48
Value of harvested and marketed tree products –
from the Sahel 2011

8. Country Value of
harvested tree
products per
household
(USD)
Value of
marketed tree
products per
household
(USD)
Mean Mean
Burkina Faso
181 64
Mali
254 73
Niger
267 12
Senegal
119 37
Value of harvested and marketed tree products –
from the Sahel 2011
In context: value of average millet production in
Niger --- 1 hectare is about $80, in Mali would be
$150

9. Burkina Faso % hhs
Mean #
months
Maximum #
months
Balanites aegyptiaca 38.8 4.54 12
Piliostigma reticulatum 33.8 3.63 8
Faidherbia albida 35.0 3.33 7
Combretum glutinosum 39.6 3.24 7
Mali
Balanites aegyptiaca 19.6 2.69 6
Pterocarpus erinaceus 43.8 1.87 5
Niger
Piliostigma reticulatum 9.2 4.57 12
Faidherbia albida 35.6 3.16 10
Senegal
Faidherbia albida 90.0+ 2.41 12
Adansonia digitata 64.1 1.99 7
Importance of Fodder Shrubs in
the Sahel

10. Study of Crop Yield Effects of Trees
and Inputs:
A complicated reality
Linear
Logarithmic
Quadratic
Yield
Number of trees
No effect

11. Basic Statistics on Crop Production
Mali
Mean millet yield is 597 kg/ha
26% of plots received fertilizer; mean amount is 8.8 kg/ha
54% of plots received manure; mean amount is 3317 kg/ha
57% of plots have mature ‘fertilizer’ trees with mean of about 5
Niger
Mean millet yield of 318 kg/ha
26.5 % of plots received fertilizer; mean amount is 5 kg/ha
78.7% of plots received manure, mean amount is 1336 kg/ha
68% of plots have at least one mature fertilizer tree in, mean of 7 faidherbia
and about 20 mature trees of all types

12. Key Results from Yield Analyses
The older trees known for positive soil effects have a
positive effect on yields – observed average density
explains 16 -30 % of yield for millet in Niger and Mali
In Niger and Mali, farmers tend to invest more manure
and fertilizer on fields where the mature fertilizer
trees are present (correlation of about .2)
Manure and fertilizer also increase crop yields in Mali,
but results were not significant in Niger, perhaps from
very low use

13. Effect of doubling of trees and inputs on millet
production in Niger and Mali
Assumption: doubling on those plots already with trees and inputs and scaled up
to 10,000 ha of millet, using regression results and adoption data
NIGER
Trees: from 20 to 40 mature fertilizer trees, would add about 240,026 kilograms of millet
Manure and fertilizer – production coefficients not significant
MALI
Trees: from 5 to 10 mature fertilizer trees, would add about 231,397 kilograms of millet
Manure: from 3.3 to 6.6 tons would add about 154,742 kilograms of millet
Fertilizer: from 9 to 18 kg would add about 135,400 kilograms of millet
The good news, is that in some sites, that doubling is well on the way

14. Regeneration and planting/active propagation in the
Sahel
Mali Niger
% households planting 11.8 8.5%
Mean # planted, all
households
6.6 1.8
Regeneration is the dominant means for tree establishment well over 90% of
trees in Sahel study
While FMNR is a foundational practice to extend in the drylands, its expression
in terms of types and numbers of species differs across sites
However, to take advantage of markets, to bring in species not in the soils of
the area or to plan for climate change, effort is needed to improve the tree
planting numbers

15. Challenges to Upscaling of EverGreen Agriculture
in the Drylands
Existing forest regulations particularly protect indigenous species and thus create
major disincentives for farmers to retain many trees
Management of grazing and fires affects all types of tree investments in the
drylands – grazing cited as one of the top factors by farmers in the Sahel
Poor market development for most tree products reduces value of trees to
farmers. Equally, rewards for carbon or other environmental services provided by
trees are virtually non-existent in dryland zones.
Germplasm multiplication and distribution for supplementing FMNR – e.g. for
high value species
Knowledge at policy and extension level on various ways of integrating trees into
farming and cropping systems

16. Key Research Challenges
1. Policy: how to fully change forest laws and officers to promote
rather than inhibit tree management on farms
2. Markets: How can value chains for more dryland tree products
be better developed (e.g. overcome the big challenges in
drylands of disperse farmers, poor infrastructure)?
3. Germplasm: How climate change resistant is existing planting
material in the soil and how can better adapted germplasm be
best propagated in the drylands?
4. Overall: How to enhance the potential of the heterogeneous
parklands which emerge through FMNR and then supplement
this through active propagation of trees?