Assessment of on farm trees and their contributions to household food security in Nyamweru sub-county, Rubanda district
Abstract
On farm trees refer to the integration of woody perennials in agricultural systems. It
encompasses trees in animal husbandry, farmlands and trees on cultivated fields. Growing of
trees with agricultural crops is a form of sustainable land use or sustainable farming system
because of the beneficial interaction between trees, agricultural crops, livestock and land.
This study was carried out in Nyamweru sub county, Rubanda District to assess on farm trees
and their contributions to food security. The specific objectives were to document different
on farm tree species planted, assess the purpose of the species and their products, and assess
the contributions of specific tree species to household food security and to assess the
management challenges faced by household farmers involving on farm tree planting. The
study adopted descriptive research design with a combination of qualitative and quantitative
data. A sample size of 60 respondents was selected for the study. Data on demographic
characteristics of the respondents was analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social
Sciences) and Chi-square was used to assess the contributions of specific tree species to
household food security. Results from the study indicated that, Persea American, Eucalyptus
spp, Grevillea robusta, and Calliandra callothynsus with 22%, 13%, 12%, and 10%
respectively were the most dominant tree species. The major purposes of the tree species and
their products were food, firewood, medicine, shade, and soil and water conservation with
the total percentage of 79. The main contributions of specific tree species to household food
security is significantly determined by avocado, Guava, eucalyptus, pine and avocado was
found to have high significant Chi-square value of 8.901 with p.value of 0.003. The study
further revealed that specific on farm trees mentioned above contributes significantly to food
security through providing food directly, improving soil fertility, selling tree products and
animal feeds among others. Therefore, there is need to put more effort in sensitizing farmers
on how on farm tree species contributes to food security through teaching them about
improved tree species, good management practices in order to solve the problem of food
insecurity by use of on farm trees in the area.