Assessment of the contribution of agroforestry trees to household income in Kabingo Sub County, Isingiro District

Abstract

This study aims at assessing the contribution of agroforestry trees to the household income in Kabingo Sub County, Isingiro district. A total of 60 respondents from the four parishes of Kagarama, Kyabinuga, Nyakigera and Katembe were involved through the use of informal discussions, interviewer-administered questionnaires as well as by direct observation. The collected data was arranged, coded and entered into Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) computer software and analyzed. Results indicate that farmers preferred agroforestry trees that were multipurpose, fast growing with open canopy in order not to shade off light for the grown crops. It further revealed that agroforestry trees contributed less to household income with only 35% of the total household income and the income earned from AF trees was influenced by the size of land put under agroforestry and household size. There has been a remarkable transition from traditional retention of trees to promotion of trees that grow very fast, some of these trees are multipurpose and they provide fruits, firewood and fodder. These are sold and contribute greatly to people’s incomes. Agroforestry practices and technologies have for long been carried out in Ntungamo district. It is an agricultural area with farmers growing both agricultural crops and rearing livestock as well as growing trees for domestic use and for commercial purposes. Many agroforestry trees are seen intercropped with agricultural crops to improve soil or for economic reasons such as providing timber for sale, charcoal and fruits; others are planted on farmers as foliage trees, shade as well as for fuel wood for home consumption and sale. This is common especially in Rubaare Sub County which has a high population of farmers and pastoralists. It therefore recommended that more sensitization should be made to avail the households with adequate information about the potential for agroforestry trees to improve their incomes, the availability of high quality and fast maturing agroforestry trees species that are highly productive so that people could make informed decisions when selecting or maintaining agroforestry trees on their farms and gardens.

The study concluded that agroforestry trees had a small contribution to household incomes as compared other sources of income.