Forestry extension services contribution towards agroforestry for soil fertility improvement.

In Zimbabwe there is a significant loss of forest cover every year because of land clearing for agriculture and human settlement. These factors will continue to threaten forests unless means of co-existence are devised. Current farming methods involve the massive mining of soil and erosion of soil nutrients. Using agroforestry to improve soil fertility is one possible remedy to this problem and this paper highlights some successes in using agroforestry. It reports on one project in Masvingo and another in Zaka where both farmers have used Leucaena to improve soil fertility and to provide fodder for animals. Transactions of the Zimbabwe Scientific Association Volume 72 (Supplement) 1998, pp. 69-71