Editor's Note

Economic viability is an important aspect of the success of agroforestry projects. The last edition of The Overstory introduced seven principles of marketing, with emphasis on wood products from farm forestry. This edition goes further into depth on the subject of value-added enterprises using farm food products to illustrate value-added strategies.

Introduction

Small farmers are under tremendous pressure to develop innovative business strategies to stay afloat. Value-adding is one such strategy that is also a logical extension of many farm businesses and can exploit underutilized farm resources for increased returns. Value-adding offers farmers the potential to capture a larger share of the consumer dollars.

What is value-adding? Value-adding is any step taken to increase the value of a raw product anytime between harvesting and sales of the final product. Typical value-adding includes processing in some way such as cleaning, cutting, packaging, smoking, drying, freezing, extracting, or preserving.

Introduction

Economic viability is an important aspect of agroforestry development. Whether selling timber, fruit, tree seed, or other products, agroforesters will benefit from understanding some principles of marketing. In this edition of the Overstory guest author Richard Finlay-Jones provides a brief introduction to professional marketing.

Seven Secrets

The seven secrets of successful selling can be summarized as follows:

1. Know your customer
2. Know your product
3. Know the process of production, manufacture and distribution
4. Know your costs
5. Know your competitive edge
6. Know the communication process
7. Know yourself

Introduction

Agroforestry systems have the potential to make use of marginal and degraded lands through the soil improving effects of trees. In this edition of The Overstory, special guest author Dr. Anthony Young shares an excerpt adapted from his popular book, Agroforestry for Soil Management. For more information about the original publication please see Original Source.

Soil Fertility and Land Degradation

Approaches to soil management, including problems of soil degradation and low soil fertility, have recently undergone major changes. The former view was to concentrate on achieving high levels of production from the more fertile areas, leaving the marginal lands for extensive use only. Steeply sloping and highly drought-prone areas were preferably not to be cultivated at all. Soil constraints were to be overcome by inputs: improved crop varieties, fertilizers, chemical control of pests and diseases, and the use of irrigation.

Editor's Note

This edition of The Overstory is adapted with permission from the USDA National Agroforestry Center's (NAC) article, "Leaf the Noise Out" (Inside Agroforestry Spring 1998), and other materials provided by the NAC. It introduces some guidelines for planting trees and shrubs to reduce noise.

Introduction

Noise can cause anxiety, tension, or even illness. Prolonged exposure to high levels of noise can cause hearing loss. Today we regard noise as a form of environmental pollution, and in some circles noise is considered an international health concern.

Trees to the rescue? Planting "noise buffers" composed of trees and shrubs can reduce noise five to ten decibels (reduces noise approximately 50% to the human ear). To achieve this effect, the species and the planting design must be chosen carefully.

Introduction

Timber products can be a sustainable and high-value product from small farms, agroforests, and small-scale forestry projects. Like any other business venture or investment, careful planning can make a difference in terms of economic success or failure. This edition of The Overstory introduces the basic steps to choose species that match the needs, goals, and site conditions of a project prior to planting.

What species should we plant?

The most common question asked by those beginning a project with timber trees is: "What species should we plant?" There is no precise formula for choosing "the right" species. Instead, choosing species is a process reliant on personal knowledge, judgments, and experience, informed by literature reviews, the advice of other growers and resource professionals, and other information (Turnbull 1986). Knowledge of project goals, commercial requirements, planting site conditions, and the range of potentially suitable species is essential in the species selection process.

Introduction

The demand for tree seed of species and provenances that are particularly suited for specific agroforestry practices can be very high. Often demand outstrips supply. When this happens, farmers either do not plant trees, or use whatever seed is available, even if it is inferior. Once poor seed has been widely planted, it is very difficult to replace it with a better source. Ideally, therefore, it is important to anticipate future demand for seed through the early planting of seed multiplication stands. With foresight and planning, good quality seed is available when the demand arises.

This article by Ian Dawson and James Were, originally published in Agroforestry Today, suggests useful guidelines for producing quality tree seed. The guidelines are geared to extension organizations, researchers and others involved in spreading agroforestry techniques.

Getting the seed you need for your area

Find out the species and provenances (if known) best suited for your planting purpose and region. Look at local species or provenance trials. Ask for recommendations on what to plant from national forestry or agriculture services, from organizations involved in international trials such as the Oxford Forestry Institute, the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry — and from tree seed suppliers.