Potential integrated CSL farming systems design - D4.2
Creators: name: Sousa, Fernando
name: Cicek, Harun
name: Ndienor, Moussa
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Crop Shrub Livestock systems
Farm design
participatory rural appraisal,

description: The first deliverable of WP4 (deliverable 4.1) provided an assessment of the existing knowledge regarding the use of shrub/tree species in the agricultural systems of Mali, Senegal and Burkina Faso, as well as the identification of crop-shrub interactions that are appropriate to the local contexts. The D4.1 was also instrumental to identify knowledge gaps that can be explored by the project, particularly in the design of innovative experiments and systems to be tested by researchers and farmers during the course of the project. This deliverable (D4.2) builds on the previous deliverable and reports on the promising crop, shrub, livestock integrated (CSL) systems to be tested across the project countries.

The results from the participatory rural appraisal (PRA) developed by WP2 also contributed to contextualize the assessment of the existing literature, providing useful insights regarding the social and cultural background and the use of local resources, which can inform better choices when designing appropriate CSL systems. Furthermore, the expertise and experience of the national teams was a decisive factor for the design of the on-farm and on-station experiments to be tested and implemented by the project.

The on-farm and on station trials were designed based on the species list produced in Task 4.1. As it was done with selection of species, community members were extensively consulted and participated in the design process. All the farmer field trials were set up based on the farmers’ own wishes to try certain species or treatments. The on-station trials were designed based on the extensive discussions with the community members. Initial meetings with the community were held in community halls and diverse range of stakeholders were invited. Further more specific meetings were held in village squares. Equal representation of male, female and youth participation were always ensured. However, it is clear that the chief of the village is always male and has a great authority on decision making. SustainSahel is not designed to influence the change the social and cultural norms in these communities but we take great care to address to gender and intersectionality issues. Nevertheless, our discussions were lively and female members of the community were not shy expressing themselves. Some of these meetings are recorded in videos and available upon request.

Decisions on the species and treatments were often taken collectively during these meetings and then further refined based on the scientific principles by the researchers

In the three countries, a variety of on-station and on-farm trials will investigate the impact of numerous tree and bush species on soil properties, crop yields among other impacts on a more systemic approach where the field and landscape levels will be taken into account.

In Mali, Leucaena leucocephala, Faidherbia albida, Guiera Senegalensis, Piliostigma reticulatum and Gliricidia sepium were selected as the trees and shrubs to be tested in on-farm and on-station trials. In Senegal, the species considered for the trials were Faidherbia albida, Guiera senegalensis, Combretum glutinosum, Acacia radiana and Piliostigma reticulatum. In Burkina Faso, a strong focus on observational studies will include a wide diversity of species, in a landscape dominated by Vitellaria paradoxa, Parkia biglobosa, among others. The bushes Guiera Senegalensis and Piliostigma reticulatum will also be the targeted of in-depth studies, while an on-station trial in Gampéla will look at a variety of promising tree and bush species and monitor their growth rates, biomass levels, among other parameters. An overview list of the project’s studies and trials is summarized in table 1.