Developing ‘farmer first’, locally adapted agroforestry in eastern Africa

Over 110 million people in Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda depend upon smallholder farming practised across 25 million ha of land. Smallholders generally focus on subsistence, use low levels of external inputs, depend on rainfall rather than irrigation and have limited market access. Most rural households are resource poor, food insecure and vulnerable to climate change, particularly frequent droughts and flooding and global warming. This situation is compounded by population growth (3% per year across the region) and an increased demand for food, water and energy, coupled with declining farm productivity, over-exploitation of trees in agricultural landscapes, and deforestation.