Agroforestry for sustainable agricultural development

in Central Asia

Dzhakypbekova, K.; Djanibekov U.; Chamberlain J.; Weyerhauser H.; Zomer, R.; Villamor, G. B.; Xu, J.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

50%

47% 46%

27%

37%

7% 5%

22%

28% 31%

Vegetables Oil seeds and cotton Pulses Cereals Wheat

Economic developments

• GDP growth: -0.9 to 11% in last decades;

• Employment in agriculture: 26 - 66% ;

• Extent of poverty: 2-64% of population

(living for a less than >1.25 USD / day);

• Agricultural production: 5-27% of GDP;

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Periods Economic situation in Central Asia:

Tsarist Russia (mid 1800-1917)

- Supplier of agricultural products - Expansion of agriculture and

improvement of trade

Soviet Union (1917 - 1991)

- Centralized policies - Integrated economy - Expansion of croplands, and irrigation canals - Provider of raw products

Independence (since 1991)

- Transition to market economies

Agroforestry in CAC

Source: World Bank (2014), Eurostat (2010), Lerman (2009)

Crop area shares in Central Asia, % (FAOSTAT, 2013 )

• Arable land: 4.1 - 10.2% of total land area;

• Segmented structure of arable lands;

• High migration of adult males from rural areas

leading to the limited labor availability;

• Cotton and wheat constituted monocultures.

0 20 40 60 80 100

37.3

40.5

53.9

52.5

Wheat

Other

Milk

Meat

Sugar

Veg. Oils

Veg-s

Rice

Fruits

Maize

Pulses

Food security

Food consumption in Central Asia, % of daily kcal intake (FAO, 2007 )

– Bread and other wheat products constitute a half of the daily diet

– Fruit and vegetable consumption limited

– Prone to price and weather variability

FAO Food Balance Sheet, 2007

3

Agroforestry in CAC

• Land erosion and land degradation processes as a result of intensive land use (water/slope/wind erosion, overgrazing)

• Land degradation: ~30% of croplands; 20-30% crop yield decline

• Deforestation: ~1% decrease of forest area

• Biodiversity loss: 90% of fruit and nut species; habitat loss

• Aral Sea desiccation; frequency of droughts

2000 2014

Source: NASA (2014)

Aral Sea

Environmental degradation

4 Source: Hansen et al (2014)

Agroforestry in CAC

Tree cover in Central Asia

% 2000, km2 2010, km2 Net loss, km2

Kazakhstan 2,2 58843 58257 -586 Kyrgyzstan 5,0 10029 9999 -30

Tajikistan 1,2 1726 1720 -6 Turkmenistan 0,1 315 311 -4

Uzbekistan 0,6 2550 2540 -10 Central Asia 1,8 73463 72827 -636

Climate change

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Agroforestry in CAC

• Expected temperature increase of 2-3.6 °C;

• More frequent droughts; changed distribution areas of plants (e.g. high latitude fur trees);

• Each 1°C increase is projected for 10% more irrigation water demand (Fischer et al, 2007);

• Affect crop yields → food security and rural incomes.

0

5

10

15

20

Kazakhsta

n

Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Turkmenist

an

Uzbekistan Cental Asia

2000 5,6 1,0 2,5 15,2 12,4 7,1

2050 8,8 3,8 5,4 17,8 15,1 10,1

Mean Annual Temperature (Co) Central Asia

Photos: USDA; Sorg, 2007; Figure: Nair, 1995

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Agroforestry in CAC

Agroforestry for Sustainability

Additional income to the rural livelihoods (economic buffer)

Sustainable land management (degradation, nutrient cycle)

Climate change adaptation and mitigation

Biodiversity and ecosystem services

Society

Environment Economy

Climate change Soil degradation

Deforestation Pasture degradation

Food security, Poverty alleviation, Employment

Business Food processing

7 Agroforestry in CAC

Research in agroforestry systems The term of Agroforestry was not widely introduced in Central Asian countries, although many

similar practices described in literature named as:

– Agro‐silvo-melioration: land use system to handle flooded/degraded lands;

– Forest gardens: improved wild nut/tree species in forests to increase yields;

– Forest side products: non-timber forest products;

– Row-spacing crops: intercropping practices.

Dragavtsev A.P., 1947 Ratkovsky S.P., 1957 8

Agroforestry in CAC

Photos: Sorg, 2007; Messerley, 2000 - Arstanbap, Djalal-Abad

Application of agroforestry Forestry level

• Silvopasture (pasturing and hay making)

• Apiculture (beekeeping)

• Fruit, nut, mushroom, medical herbs collection

• Forest farming and woodland gardening

Opportunity for business Environmental sustainability

Diverse income

Carbon stock Protection from erosion

Less labor

9 Agroforestry in CAC

Higher yields Food security

Additional income source

Soil conservation Clean water and air

Agrobiodiversity

Farm level

• Multi-cropping (i.e. apples and currant bush)

• Alley cropping (annual crops, vegetables or

berries, grains)

• Wind-breaks and timber source

Examples

– Afforestation on salinized marginal cropland in Uzbekistan

– Walnut and clover/wheat rotation on irrigated land in Kyrgyzstan

Multiple benefits:

• Improving land quality

• Provision of environmental services

• Substitute for fuelwood, forage

• Income and product diversification

• Less labor requirement than crops

High initial costs, and high benefits in longer term

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Khamzina et al 2012

Kyrgyzstan

Uzbekistan

• Lack of knowledge among land users:

- Unfamiliar with wide range benefits

- Absence of specialized skills

- Lack of access to advisory services

- Limited provision of equipment

• Long-term income generation: interest in obtaining quick money

• Biophysical constraints: scarce arable land, high aridity, uncertain status of land quality

Constraints of agroforestry

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Question to farmers Response of farmers

Preference towards agroforestry?

Percentage of total Willing to grow = 35% Not interested = 52% Unfamiliar with land use = 13%

If planted, then what is the purpose? For receiving profit

Despite of various benefits the agroforestry is not widely practiced

Source: Djanibekov (2015)

• Infrastructure: unsuitable infrastructure designed to support

crop production

• Markets: poorly developed tree product markets

• Policy and institutional restrictions:

– Preferential subsidizing of strategic crops

– Irrigation and fertilizer quotas

– Insecurity of land tenure and bureaucracy of land allocation

regulations

– Transition policies

– Absence of legislation on agroforestry

Constraints of agroforestry

12

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0

50

100

150

200

250

1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009

Ave

rage

far

m s

ize

, ha

Nu

mb

er

of

farm

s, t

ho

usa

nd Average farm size, ha

Number of farms, 1000

Source: Statistical office (2011)

Recommendations • Site/farm specific solutions

• Awareness raising and knowledge dissemination

• Building interdisciplinary research capacity for agroforestry

• Establishing markets and regulations to maximize the socio-economic value of agroforestry

• Selecting suitable tree species for the natural conditions (best optimal tree/crop combinations)

• National and local support by legislation, policy, financial incentives, institutional establishments

• Flexibility in the issues of land tenure

13 Agroforestry in CAC

Dzhakypbekova, 2014 FAO, 2012 FAO, 2012 Khamzina et al 2012

Conclusions • Agroforestry has a number of advantages for socio-economic and environmental development of

the rural livelihoods in CAC

• Limited knowledge and current policies on land tenure and agricultural productions are the main

constraints

• More research and experiments on agroforestry are required for elaboration of relevant

agroforestry types for each site conditions

• Need for better regulatory environment and incentives for agroforestry

Society

Environment Economy

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Agroforestry in CAC

Thank you for your attention!

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Email: klara.dzhakypbekova@gmail.com

Publication

Agroforestry for sustainable agricultural development in Central Asia

Dzhakypbekova, K.; Djanibekov U.; Chamberlain J.; Weyerhauser H.; Zomer, R.; Villamor, G. B.; Xu, J.