A project in Nepal is helping farmers integrate trees for ecological and economic benefits.

In a podcast on Radio Adelaide’s Ag Aid program, Dr Ian Nuberg from the University of Adelaide and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) explains how the project particularly aims to introduce improved fodder trees to feed buffaloes, cattle and goats as well as medicinal herbs that can be sold to India or China.

The project is working the mid-hills of Nepal where farmers face the challenge of producing crops and raising livestock on unproductive steep slopes. Added to this is a labor shortage brought about by young men migrating away from farms.

Work is being done to improve farming systems by bringing in higher value crops that require less labor. Efforts are also underway to improve institutions and governance as well as silvicultural practices so that forests can be better managed and there is equity in the distribution forest resources.

Nepal is considered the world benchmark for community forestry. While the State owns the forests, they have contracts with villages to manage them and which determine how much firewood, fodder or how many trees can be harvested. About 27 per cent of forests in Nepal are community-managed.

Listen to the podcast: Ag Aid: Agroforestry in Nepal