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Such an overall strategy includes, inter-alia, decisions on the type
of land use system, or sub-system, where an agroforestry approach will
be emphasized; the degree of government intervention in agroforestry
production systems; and the envisaged institutional scope for research
in agroforestry.
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In selecting target land-use systems strategy decisions should take
into account the scale and capital intensity of production units, as
well as ecological zones that would be relatively more suitable for an
agroforestry approach, vis-a-vis conventional agriculture and forestry
ones. Given their predominance among African land use systems, it seems
that, in principle, the agroforestry approach should be focused on those
systems supplying for the needs of the household plus some
growth-generating cash, while sustaining yields without depending too
heavily on commercial inputs.
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The degree of government Involvement in agroforestry production
systems depends to a great extent on both the political objectives of
development and the type of land-use enterprises under consideration. In
general terms, it is increasingly recognized that in developing new
technologies voluntary adoption by farmers should be assumed. This
implies a strong involvement of potential users in the
technology-generating process.
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A regional scope appears as the most sensible one for developing
research in agroforestry. This would be justified by the scarcity,
already discussed above, of research resources faced by many African
countries, vis-a-vis the variety of land use problems, and by
the-multidisciplinary nature of the agroforestry approach. The latter
makes research implementation a costly endeavour, which would be
multiplied for every major land use problem to be addressed. Countries
under similar environmental conditions and sharing a set of land use
problems suitable for an agroforestry approach could then coordinate the
allocation of resources to ensure efficient coverage.
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Such co-ordination would be better pursued first within broad
ecological zones. This approach would increase the possibility of there-
sharing both land use problems and existing institutional. structures
(like SADCC, CILSS). Four such ecological zones have been identified:
arid (Sahel), semi-arid/bimodal (eastern Africa), sub-humid/unimodal
(southern Africa), and humid lowlands (western Africa).
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It. is desirable that agroforestry strategies are designed at the
country level before; an attempt is made for co-ordinated cooperation at
the zonal level. In designing such strategies existing projects should
be considered and all institutions concerned with agriculture and
forestry land use research ought to be involved,
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