The potential of agroforestry in Uganda prison farms: a case study of Isimba farm, Masindi district.

Abstract

Agroforestry is an integrated land use practice that can enhance the productivity of farmlands. At the moment, the Uganda Prisons Service does not have a policy for integration trees on farm and that is being used mainly for maize production in a monoculture cropping system with the risk of soil fertility decline. Agroforestry offers prospects for integration trees with crops on Uganda Prisons Service farms that can reduce land degradation, conserve soil and enhance its productivity. As a step towards introducing agroforestry, a study was undertaken in April 2022 at Isimba farm located in Bwijanga sub-county, Bujenje County, Masindi district 30 kilometres from Masindi Municipality. The objectives were to profile the on-farm tree species, examine the drivers and limitations to adoption of trees on the farm and examine the attitudes of Uganda prisons staff towards integrating agroforestry practices. Data were collected using a qualitative and quantitative research design with mixed methods approach, processed in Excel and analysed in SPSS. Out of the 80 people interviewed, 81.3% were male and 18.7% were female, 43.7% were 31-45 years old, 40% were 18-30 years old while 16.3% were 46-60 years old. The majority (53.8%) had attained secondary education and slightly more than half (52.5%) had worked for 1-5 years on Uganda Prisons farms. Two hundred and four trees belonging to 20 species and 12 families were enumerated and the largest number of trees (n=109) belong to Meliaceae followed by Anacardiaceae (n=35) and Moraceae (n=25). The majority of the tree were mainly Azadirachta indica and Melia volkensii planted on the roadsides and on staff compounds. A total of 76, 68 and 60 trees were recorded in the areas with silvopastoral, agrosilvopastoral and agrosilviculture practices respectively. In the agrosilvopastural area, 26 trees had diameter at breast height (DBH) of 20-29.9 cm followed by 13 trees with DBH of 10-19.9 cm and the diameter classes ranging from 30-100+ cm had less than 10 trees. Most of the trees were young belonging to 5-14.9 m height class. The tree seedlings for planting were obtained from nurseries outside the farm. The trees provide timber, fruits, firewood, shade, herbal medicines and serve as windbreaks. Seventy-three respondents (91.3%) managed the trees by weeding, thinning and pruning. Thirty-nine respondents (48.8%) strongly agreed that integration of agroforestry would increase farm production while 57.5% strongly agreed that Isimba Prison farm has the capacity to introduce agroforestry. However, a policy is needed to guide systematic introduction of agroforestry on the farm.