Impacts of agroforestry technology combined with sustainable land management (SLM) techniques on farmer’s resilience to climate change: Case of Mafele village in Bougouni region (Mali)

Abstract

Bougouni, situated in southern Mali, is part of the Sudanese ecological zone characterized by semi-arid conditions, which make it particularly vulnerable to environmental pressures such as overexploitation of natural resources, deforestation, and unsustainable agricultural practices. These factors have contributed to a noticeable decline in land quality, productivity, and overall ecosystem resilience, making it a pertinent location for investigating land degradation dynamics. The climate of the Bougouni region is a semi-arid tropical climate with an annual rainfall of over 1100 mm. Since the 1970s, it has been characterized by significant interannual variability in precipitation. Indeed, during the period from 1984 to 2022, drought years were recorded in 1988, 2002, 2009, and 2017, with an average rainfall of 850 mm. This situation is linked to climate change, which poses a major obstacle to development. In the village of Mafele, three agroforestry systems are practiced, agrisylvicultural, sylvo-pastoral and agri-sylvo-pastoral, dominated by Butyrospermum parkii, Parkia biglobosa, Mangifera indica and Tamarindus indica, combined with annual crops such as cotton, maize, rice and sorghum. Several sustainable land management (SLM) measures have been implemented, such as manure spreading, crop rotation, legume cultivation, fallowing, and crop residue management. Farmers' perceptions of agroforestry practices were also assessed. The agroforestry options used to assess the performance under maize and sorghum production shows a high significant effect (P<0.05) on growth parameter such as plant height at 30 and 60 days after planting. The assessment of the agroforestry options on maize and sorghum yield for both experimental years (2023 and 2024) shows a significant effect (P<0.05). All these agroforestry options increase maize and sorghum yield compared to the control. The dried biomass of maize estimated (T0 4,553.867 kg/ha, whereas T1 and T2 recorded amounts of 5,835.854 kg/ha and 5,847.729 kg/ha, respectively). Additionally, T3 exhibited a dried biomass of 6,141.446 kg/ha. The agroforestry treatments (T1, T2, and T3) produced higher dried biomass compared to the control plot T0. The same case has been observed with sorghum. In our experimental site, Leucaena leucocephala and Gliricidia sepium, planted in alley cropping systems, significantly contributed to soil health and productivity by influencing various soil properties. This study examined also the effects of Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) and Gliricidia sepium on soil pH, organic matter content, total carbon, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and total potassium under tropical climatic conditions in Mafele. Four composite soil samples were collected to assess site fertility. At the end of each cropping campaign, a soil sample was taken from the center of each elementary plot. These samples were collected diagonally and from the center of the plot using a soil auger in the 0-20 cm horizon. They were sent to the Soil-Water-Plant Laboratory of IPR/IFRA for chemical property analysis. Results showed that total carbon, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and total potassium in plots with Gliricidia sepium and Leucaena leucocephala were higher than those in the control plots of each experimental site. The fresh biomass of Gliricidia sepium and Leucaena leucocephala incorporated into the soil improved its fertility.