Agroforestry in Southern Africa - ASAP
Agroforestry in Southern Africa - new pathways of innovative land use systems under a changing climate (ASAP)
01.12.2018 – 30.11.2021
New and innovative land use solutions are needed to adapt to a rapidly changing climate and to mitigate the predicted impacts on rural livelihoods. Projected changes to current climate patterns are suggested to severely impact southern Africa. This may occur as an increase in drought and flooding events and shifts in rainfall patterns causing a loss of productive cropland, negatively affecting economic, ecological and social aspects of sustainable development.
Agroforestry systems (AFS) present the potential to improve the bio-economy in rural areas, to provide an adaptation strategy for human needs, and to preserve natural resources and biodiversity against climate change influences.
The research project ‘Agroforestry in Southern Africa - new pathways of innovative land use systems under a changing climate (ASAP)’ targets the application of AFS as a suitable response to the impacts of climate change.
In a transdisciplinary approach the ASAP project aims to both develop and cement knowledge concerning agroforestry systems in southern Africa utilising simple easily replicable methodology across the entire study region.
Utilising traditional knowledge and combining it with innovative technical solutions (such as terrestrial laser scanning, airborne UAS-based NDVI, see picture below), ASAP targets an understanding of the social demands and impacts that agroforestry systems can offer.
The project will study of the effects of the utilisation of trees within a farmed landscape in terms of soil processes, hydrological fluxes and flows, shading and nutrient export as well as assessment of woody biomass production. Likewise, the project will also assess the social, political, and economic contexts guiding the establishment of AFS policies at national level and the effects or implications of utilising trees within agricultural land in order to guide regional policy makers.
Project output will be designed to promote agroforestry systems as a viable approach to land use, agriculture and food production and as a modified alternative to conventional or traditional agricultural practices.
The ASAP project also aims for the development of German - southern African research cooperation and capacity building with the bi-directional transfer of knowledge and educational transmission, providing multiple opportunities for exchange and collaboration at all levels.
More information can be found on the project website, or on our twitter feed.
The ASAP project is sponsored by the BMBF (German Federal Ministry of Education and Research) under grant number 01LL1803, as part of the SPACES II funding program including the following German institutions:
- University of Freiburg, Chair of Forest Growth and Dendroecology, Chair of Soil Ecology, Chair of Forest and Environmental Policy, Freiburg, Germany
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute of Water and River Basin Management, Karlsruhe, Germany
- Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research e.V. (ZALF) Landscape Pedology, Munchenberg, Germany
- Centre for Energy Technology Brandenberg e.V. (CEBra), Cottbus, Germany
The ASAP project is affiliated and working closely with the following southern African partners:
- University of Pretoria, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, Pretoria, South Africa
- Stellenbosch University, Department of Forest and Wood Science, Stellenbosch, South Africa
- Eduardo Mondlane University, Department of Forestry, Maputo, Mozambique
- Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management (SASSCAL), Headquartered in Windhoek, Namibia
- National Botanical Research Institute, Economic Botany Programme, Windhoek, Namibia
- Copperbelt University, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Kitwe, Zambia
- World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Southern Africa Node Office, Lilongwe, Malawi