My Research Excursion

Agroforestry is sort of the generic term for agricultural practices that involve the use of trees. In a country like Niger, people typically clear all the trees and shrubs off of a plot of land before planting their crops, but trees can be beneficial to agricultural production in a number of ways. They protect against both wind and water erosion, their leaves and roots contribute organic matter to the soil, and some trees enrich the soil by fixing atmospheric nitrogen. Additionally, trees can provide other valuable products such as firewood, fruits, edible leaves, and traditional medicines.

When I talk about an “agroforestry system” I’m describing something more specific. Agricultural scientists have developed many different models for how best to combine certain trees and certain crops to achieve the greatest possible benefit. This project of mine involves studying three such systems, which range from loosely defined and flexible (fostering and managing the trees that sprout naturally in a field instead of clearing them) to quite prescriptive (planting measured rows of exotic species including grafted fruit trees at ten meter intervals to be managed according to an specific calendar).

As I mentioned below, I spent last week touring around some rural areas of southwestern Niger. The point was to visit and interview a bunch of the “pilot farmers” for one of these agroforestry systems. These guys are the first stab at taking a system developed at the research center and putting it in the hands (and on the land) of farmers who could potentially benefit from it.

As far as my research project goes, the trip went really well. It was extremely valuable for me to be able to sit down with these farmers in their fields and talk with them about their impressions of the new systems, their challenges in carrying it out, the likelihood of other community members trying to adopt this system, and other topics. What’s really affecting about these kinds of visits, though, is the personal interaction you have with these people. They share their stories with you. They tell you about the founding of the village or the history of their family. With a combined total of maybe five words in common you manage to exchange a few jokes. And although this is kind of a boilerplate observation for anybody who’s spent time in rural Africa, but it’s hard not to be struck by the kind of generosity they show to visitors. One chief gave me two chickens. Another farmer gave me 30 guinea fowl eggs. These are valuable gifts, and you feel guilty accepting them from such truly poor people but there’s absolutely no way you can refuse.

I tried uploading a bunch of photos from my trip but the internet is not cooperating today. Maybe next week.