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Woodlot Management Guidelines for Smallholder Farmers
Summary:
Details on Lessons Learned from the Woodlot Management Guidelines for Smallholder Farmers, January 2010. These details are a product of the research project on "Improving Smallholder
Livelihoods through Woodlots Management: An
Adaptation to Climate Variability & Change in Makete
District, Tanzania".
The best practices are documented in this publication in
the form of Guidelines for Woodlots Management in
Makete District. These Guidelines were developed based
on farmers’ own experience in managing their woodlots
and technical recommendations of the
researchers from the Faculty of Forestry and Nature
Conservation, Sokoine University of Agriculture and the
Tanzania Forestry Research Institute. Forest staff and the
management of Makete District Council also participated
in this research. The research was funded by the
government of Denmark through The UNEP/UNDP
Climate Change and Development: Adapting by
Reducing Vulnerability (CC DARE) programme.
File(s):
Adaptation Experience:
Tree planting programme in Tanzania has been advocated for decades but adoption of these activities is not promising in most parts of the country. To the contrary, people in Makete district responded positively to tree planting due to unfavorable climatic conditions and poor soils that contributed to poor agricultural crop production. Also they already know the importance of trees as they contribute highly to the economy of individual households and to the District at large. Previously the income of people in Makete district depended on agricultural products such as maize, wheat, rice, round potatoes and pyrethrum but later due to climate variability and change crops production failed tremendously. This resulted in threatening food security and the wellbeing of rural people of Makete. Responding to this situation, local people of Makete district have established tree woodlots as an alternative source of household income. Makete district is among the southern highlands areas of Tanzania reported to have successful woodlots. These areas are well afforestated with trees especially of cypress, pines, eucalyptus and wattle. The woodlots range from 0.25 to 3 hectares. Much as the communities are harvesting and getting income from their woodlots, their management practices including marketing strategies are far from being sound. A study was conducted to assess management practices of smallholder woodlots and marketing of wood/timber in order to document best woodlots management practices. This was envisaged to maximize benefits accruing from woodlots management by households in Makete district. _Source: Rogers E. Malimbwi, Eliakimu Zahabu, Josiah Katani, Wilson Mugasha and Uhuru Mwembe, Woodlot Management Guidelines for Smallholder Farmers, January 2010. _
Results and Learning:
The guidelines have been structured into the following subtopics, which are considered crucial for proper woodlot management by rural communities: * Site and tree species selection; * Source of planting material; * Land preparation; * Field planting and spacing; * Woodlot tending activities; * Weeding * Thinning * Pruning * Suitable harvesting time; and * Marketing channels for timber.
Sustainability:
Refer to Guidelines.
Replication:
Although these guidelines are meant for Makete district, they may be applied in other districts in Iringa region and Tanzania as a whole with few modifications.
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