Paper Example on Impacts of Agroforestry in the Subtropical Regions on Agricultural Revenues of Smallholder Farmers

The research focuses on agroforestry systems in tropical regions of South America.  However, much emphasis has been made on Bolivian Andes Highlands and other neighboring regions. According to McKay, Nehring, and Walsh-Dilley (2014), agroforestry practices have found extensive utilization in the Andean highlands and Altiplano plains. In this perspective, various studies have been conducted to determine the profitability of the initiative and the overall impact on small-scale farmers economy.

The determination of the cultural importance of plants is crucial in the quantitative analysis of the ethnobotanical studies and a crucial tool for sustainable land use practices. An evaluation of the ethnobotanical agroforestry system requires classification and thus providing a practical and realistic framework for the development of an action plan. In tropical regions, the agroforestry systems are majorly distinguished into management and ecological basis. Such classification is mutually inclusive and brings forth interrelated functions. Agroforestry system encompasses an extensive application of practices that form a significant practice of land use in a locality and is usually described in relation to biological composition, arrangement, technical management and the socio-economic features. Major practices that have been utilized in tropical highlands such as Bolivia, Venezuela, Brazil and parts of Asia include; production systems involving plantation crops, use of woody perennials, improved fallows and silvo-pastoral combinations. This literature review seeks to explore the impact of agro forestry systems in subtropical regions on the agricultural revenues of smallholder farmers.

Soil and Environmental Characteristics

The principal problems with the highland agroforestry systems are more related to land use challenges and environmental factors. Specifically, in Bolivia, high rates of soil erosion on the steep terrains have been a problem. A decrease in temperatures with altitude reduces greatly the growth of certain species considered useful in these grounds. Climatic conditions have had great effects on the profitability of agriculture in tropical regions. With high annual temperatures, agriculture mainly crops farming has been rampant in the Altiplano plains and Andean valley regions (Schneider et al., 2017). Main crops that have been introduced in agroforestry systems include corn, rice, nuts, and fruits. Agroforestry strategies are crucial in the current situation due to poor soils with the practices of slash and burn practices making the soil extremely arid. The ecosystem highly depends on the climate variability and the associated water availability (Boillat and Berkes, 2013).

The preference of agricultural system in a locality is not only affected by environmental and agro-ecological factors, but also by the socio-economic considerations. Production in Bolivia and many other areas have been found to be affected by labor, population growth, production resources and accessibility of markets. Most studies and research on agroforestry focus on the methods for obtaining quantifiable data in a given socioecological context. The knowledge on the intracultural variations in plants helps to improve sustainable agroforestry services. Despite the fact that agroforestry is a promising method for enhancing land use sustainability, the benefits of the system has not been recognized in assisting Bolivian rural development. This occurs due to gaps in the appreciation of the users' acuity with consideration of both the local and worldwide environmental goals. In the ascertainment of the profitability of the system, various factors have to be considered which relate to site-specific socio-ecological elements to identify the most promising agroforestry species and strategies. Calculations of ecological, economic and socio-cultural factors are crucial in the determination of plant factors (Steduto et al., 2012).

Production capacity

In Bolivian Andes, exotic Eucalyptus species are preferred as compared to the native woody plants such as Alnus acuminata, Schinus molle et cetera. Research dedicated to the use of agroforestry practices has shown that environmental conditions in the Bolivian highlands can be remedied through the adoption of best agroforestry standards. Many tree species and their economic return have been studied such as Buddleja coriacea Remy, Pinus radiata. Eucalyptus globulus Labill, E. globulus, Baccharis spp, Robinia pseudoacacia L. and B. coriacea. Farmers prefer investments in systems that are profitable over a short period (Schroth et al., 2013).

There are various strategies that are being implemented to the farmer to change this trend of exotic tree preferences. There are more benefits of conserving these woody plants in the farm. Scientific studies and insights into the intercultural variation in the valuation for woody plants assist in optimizing the agroforestry management in this area. The efforts are part of the major aim of ecological restoration of the Andean forests to recover the integrity and functionality of the degraded ecosystem. Various studies on the challenges and opportunities in the Bolivian agroforestry sector has revealed a wide range of initiatives in place and which provide ecosystem services, food, and income to the local communities (Barham and Weber, 2012). The main challenge with these populations is the lack of government support and initiatives are targeted to other areas such as large-scale monocultures.

Agroforestry significance in Bolivia

Restoration practices in the area influence the sustainable development of the region and help in the mitigation of climate change. The agroforestry practices have seen the adoption of trees more than scrubs in the considered area. Local people here have a cultural connection with trees more than scrubs. This can be attributed to the need for timber for construction in the area. Available scrubs in few farms are used as fuelwood. The plant's specific attributes in this area increase their cultural importance and hence are more likely to be valued by the community (Brandt et al., 2012). Science and practice has not appropriately dealt with the focus on enhancing production potential of the woody plants available and therefore should integrate the local players, experts, and financial actors to make agroforestry a success in the region.

The success of the agroforestry system in Bolivia requires a nationwide policy coordinating individual farmers in support of agroforestry initiatives (Barham and Weber, 2012). Extension services and materials provision can help individual farmers in establishing agroforestry systems. With the lack of this support, farmers decision is the sole driver to the establishment of the systems. The main factor in this set up is then the economic returns majorly on the most profitable undertaking. This, therefore, implies that farmers will only consider an initiative if it is profitable enough. Majority of farmers in the highland areas are members of agricultural cooperatives and have invested in the subsistence farming sector. In many sections, the land is owned by large landowners actively engaged in commercial agriculture.

Agroforestry is a traditional practice in the Andean land use practices. Latest systems are more tailored to the revitalization of soil productivity and stabilization by promoting various operations. Native woody species are still considered in the hedgerow intercropping systems. Woodland and forests cover a large portion of approximately 40 percent of all Bolivian land, and only about 2 percent of the land is under crops (Hoch, Pokorny and de Jong, 2012). Overall agricultural land use accounts for about 10 percent. This proportion gives an insight into the probable amount of land that can be placed under agroforestry practices. For ages, traditional farming methods have been applied, and thus farms are vulnerable to erosion, irregular rainfall, and poor fertility.

Production level and technology in use

Farm power is still in use in many smallholder farms, and animals are kept as an income provider which causes overgrazing and thus loss of soil fertility. Rather than soil and environmental characteristics, various structural problems still exist limiting the farmers productivity and therefore cutting their agriculture-related income greatly. Poor roads and lack of access to ports restrict the amount of produce that reaches domestic and foreign markets. This limits the profitability of the initiatives and limits the transfer and adoption of technologies that can result in the growth of the sector. The main challenge is that Bolivia lacks the essential skilled personnel to reverse the trend and over time, farmers have remained vulnerable to challenges of droughts and floods (Coe, Sinclair and Barrios, 2014). Pricing policies in the region have not influenced agriculture greatly as food products fetch meager prices a problem brought by the availability of cheap imports. In many farm holdings, cocoa-based small-scale agriculture is an important source of income for the farming families. They, however, suffer from the plant diseases, heat waves, droughts as affecting returns and working conditions. To measure the profitability of the cocoa system, three approaches of agroforestry are considered; successional agroforestry, common practice monoculture, simple agroforestry (Babin, 2014). Socioeconomic impacts of the systems are analyzed by the consideration of the yields and effectiveness of cooperatives manning the situation.

Cocoa integration in small holder farms

Cocoa agroforestry suffers lack of labor, equipment, technical support, and the capability to maintain the systems. Farmers are faced with adverse costs fluctuations due to cocoa price volatility. The cocoa plantations can only thrive in agroforestry systems due to the constant changes in prices. Cocoa plants in the system have negative effects on other crops due to shading effect and farmers complain both ecological and environmental risks. In this perspective, the total gain made from more integration reduces greatly. Only the most educated people in the locality integrate the different species appropriately leading to diversified production. Dynamic agroforestry systems have not been adopted due to the lack of knowledge and appropriate equipment. According to Jacobi et al. (2015), dynamic ecosystems are eligible for payments of ecosystem services, but these remain difficult to access to some cocoa producers. Therefore, the integration of agroforestry has not resulted to direct gains throughout the entire population.

The rate of adoption of dynamic agroforestry has been shown to depend on initial motivation to adopt the system, comprehension of the system, the observations on the comparison of dynamic agroforestry with monoculture systems, and the objectives of implementation of the system (Andres et al., 2016). The integration of shading trees on agroforestry system has been described to influence the general income in different ways. Various researchers have availed different concerns on the effect of shading trees on the prevalence of pests. In some cases, the shading effect decreases pest populations directly and in other areas indirectly by acting on the natural pest antagonists. Research has criticized the use of Eucalyptus and Pinus as not very effective in the short-term period. These species do not effectively control soil erosion. They, ho...