Agroforestry in the Sahel: A concept paper based on the Niamey Agroforestry Seminar, 23 May-9 June 1983

Contrary to many other parts of arid or semi-arid Africa throughout the entire Sahel the relatively recent term "agroforestry" fits well with the existing typical, savannah-park landscape. Farmers in a belt reaching from Senegal to Chad have always preserved selected trees in their fields and they continue to do so as long as changing circumstances and increasing land pressure permit. Across the Sahel the tree cover is disappearing at a continuously high rate. Comparison of older and more recent aerial photos provide proof of a significant loss of natural tree cover, For instance, in a forest reserve near Niamey losses range from 60% to 10% in 20 years. Local residents are forced to trim and cut individual branches from nearby trees more frequently as firewood from the open brush areas becomes increasingly scarce. It is very important to note, however, the only large scale, completely treeless farm areas found today in the cereal belts of the Sahel, are development projects sites where trees were removed because they were judged by "experts" to be superfluous or obstructing heavy modern farm equipment and machinery. (author)