The technology has gained wide acceptance among farmers. The reasons for adoption vary with region, and include soil fertility improvement, production of staking materials and poles, fuelwood, minimization of fallow period, feed for livestock, and erosion control. These reasons are ranked differently in the different countries. Farmers' managerial skills and production systems have resulted in their modification of the technology contrary to researchers' recommendations. These modifications include changes in cropping intensity, height to which hedgerow trees are pruned, and spacing within and between hedgerows.
Modifications also vary with country.
Farmers' modifications need to be evaluated scientifically as they affect the future adoption of the technology. Economic analysis gave an indication of high financial and social profitability from the adoption of alley farming and other agroforestry technologies for the management of natural resources. In the past the low rate in adoption was partly due to inefficient policies. Recent changes in policy in the late 1980s and early 1990s have positively influenced financial and social benefits of this and other agroforestry technologies. Suitable policies play a significant role in the acceptance of promising technologies, and cannot be ignored in the quest for sustainability in natural resource management and agricultural development in Africa, south of the Sahara.