Browsing by Subject "Zimbabwe"
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(2013)Along with rapid population growth, peri-urban environments have a great potential to improve urban food production. Especially, in developing countries people living in big cities are suffering from food and firewood shortages. Agroforestry could be a sustainable way to produce food and fuel in peri-urban areas, areas surrounding cities. For the development and the analyzing an agroecosystems, various recommendations and guidelines are in place. However, applying these recommendations and guidelines can be complicated and time consuming. The aim of this study was to create an agroforestry system design model which would be simple and easy to use. The model was created based on already existing agroecosystem analyzing and design models. From which publications by Altieri (1983); Agroecology – The scientific basis of alternative agriculture, Nair (1989); Agroforestry systems in the Tropics and Jaenicke et al. (1995); Towards a method to set priorities amongst species for tree improvement research – A case study from West Africa, where chosen to be applied. The study included three different stages: a development of the design model, testing the model and analyzing the model. The testing part was implemented in Dzivaresekwa, a peri-urban area of Harare, Zimbabwe. The data collection for design the agroforestry system consisted interviews of local farmers, project farm characterization and the interview of the project farm manager. Based on the data collected, suitable species and their arrangement were decided. The application of the design model required comprehensive data collection about the project farm’s farming possibilities. About four months was used for the whole design process. This might be too long for most of the farmers depending on agriculture as their only income. However, if the process is done for an entirely new farming system, the time can be found as reasonable. The model can be quite easily modified for each project in question. However, the testing of the model proved that some development should still be carried out. For example determining the suitable species should be simpler.
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(2018)Food production in densely populated areas needs to adjust to the pivotal challenges of an increasing population and urbanization. Particularly, this applies for Africa, which will face the highest population growth of all continents within the next 30 years. This is why in the future peri-urban agroforestry is expected to play a more important role in this area of the world. Homegardens which are part of agroforestry systems are seen as one of the ways to improve people’s food security and nutrition security. For households fruit trees offer a variety for the daily diet. Besides the fact that fruits contain various vitamins and other nutrients which help to prevent diseases, selling fruits can additionally offer a source of income for some households. This study found out what kind of fruit tree species people are growing in their homegardens, in the peri-urban area of Dzivarasekwa (Harare), Zimbabwe. The study investigated how households use fruits whether they sell them or use them as a part of daily nutrition. The material was collected by interviewing local people in their homegardens in the fall of 2015. 34 interviews were conducted and 5 descriptive maps of homegardens were drawn. The study found in total 16 different fruit trees, from which the most common were mango, avocado, guava and peach. Also 4 different indigenous fruit tree species were grown in the homegardens. From the interviewed households all of them used fruits as a part of nutrition and eight households also sold fruits to get income. The strongest limiting factor in the cultivation of fruit trees was the small size of the homegardens. However, people would be interested to grow more fruit trees, even indigenous ones, if they had the seedlings available and enough space. People were also interested in better varieties if they would be available. The results show that fruit trees grown in the homegardens can produce fruits for the household for the daily diet all over the year. In addition, fruit sales can bring an extra income for the households.
Now showing items 1-2 of 2