Evaluation of the role of agroforestry systems and practices on the climate change adaptation and mitigation in the Kilombero cluster of sagcots, Kilombero Tanzania

Masters Dissertation

Agroforestry systems and practices comprise of a long list of land management practices. Well-managed agroforestry can play a crucial role in improving resilience to climate change. Climate change adaptation involves actions to reduce or eliminate the negative effects of climate change or taking actions for the positive effects. Mitigation involves any activities related to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the ecosystem. Agroforestry has been practiced for a long time in Kilombero and various government and non-governmental organizations have been facilitating their implementation to overcome the impact of climate change and enhance resilience. This seems an important aspect in implementing the Kilombero SACGOT cluster framework as it’s likely to contribute to multiple value chains being addressed by the cluster. Despite agroforestry being considered as the best option for climate change adaptation and mitigation in Kilombero, there is a little information on the agroforestry systems and agroforestry practices that are more potential for climate change adaptation and mitigation since they are difference in practical. Therefore, a study was conducted in the Kilombero cluster of Sagcot in Kilombero District aiming to evaluate the role of agroforestry systems and practices in climate change adaptation and mitigation. The specific objectives of the study were to identify the agroforestry systems and practices, to determine the role of agroforestry systems and practices in climate change adaptation, to determine the socio- economic factors influencing the adoption of agroforestry systems and practices, and to quantify the role of systems and practices in carbon capture and emission mitigation. Household surveys were conducted in a community with agroforestry farmland. Key informant interviews were carried out with government officials, and focus group discussions involved people who had stayed in the study area for a long time and who had the best history of climate change trends. A biophysical survey was conducted on theiii farmland where the diameter and height of trees were measured. The collected data were analyzed through descriptive analysis, one-way ANOVA and multinomial logistic regression. Data from biophysical survey were subjected to allometric model for biomass and then carbon stock computation. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics to identify different agroforestry systems and practices in Kilombero, one-way ANOVA to show the influence of different agroforestry systems and practices on increasing the adaptive capacity through contribution of household income, multinomial logistic regression was used to determine the determinants factor influencing the adoption of agroforestry, and quantitative data from biophysical survey were subjected to an allometric model for carbon stock computation. The results revealed that the major agroforestry systems in Kilombero District are agrosilvopasture, agrosilviculture and silvopasture, while the agroforestry practices are home garden, boundary planting, mixed intercropping and parkland. The diversification of the systems and practices through agroforestry ensures multiple and diverse products from the land such as fruits, timber, fodder, and wood fuel. These were significant in sustaining production all the seasons thus enhancing resilience to climate change variability. Agroforestry practices had no statistically significant differences in increasing adaptive capacity through contribution of household’s income. On the other hand, agroforestry systems showed to be statistically significant differences in increasing the adaptive capacity through their contribution to household income, P<0.05. The most significance systems in income generation were agrosilvopasture and agrosilviculture. The results on determinant factors influencing the adoption of agroforestry, using Multinomial logistic regression showed that time for staying in the village, residence type, extension services, and sex had statistically significant differences in determining the adoption of agroforestry practices while sex and residence status had statisticallyiv significant differences in determining the adoption of agroforestry systems (P<0.05).According to the findings of an ecological survey, Mangifera indica sequestered higher carbon 70.57 Mg C ha -1 than other species encountered in the agroforestry systems and practices. Home gardens, mixed intercropping, parkland, and boundaries planting sequestered 185.79 MgCha -1 , 17.79 MgCha -1 , 26.75 MgCha -1 , and 23.22 MgCha -1 , respectively. With respect to agroforestry systems agrosilvopasture sequestered the highest amount of carbon (115.3MgCha -1 ) followed by silvopasture (81.5 MgCha -1 ). and agrosilviculture (55.7 Mg C ha -1 ). The study concluded that agroforestry contributes significantly in increasing the resilience to climate change mitigation through carbon sequestration as well as climate change adaptation through the use of different agroforestry products. Therefore, agroforestry should be taken into consideration in the agriculture value chain of Kilombero cluster.