Perception, management and usage of Melia volkensii by farmers: A case study from the Kibwezi district, Kenya

Abstract

Although the efficient propagatIon at M. volkensll from seed and cuttings is the scientific dilemma, this study found that the farmers in Kibwezi and other areas continue to successfully grow and manage the tree to meet their needs. The management of M. volkensii which had developed around Kibwezi was basic and could be improved upon to develop a means of integrating the tree more successfully into an agroforestry system. This study showed that irrespective of farmers' knowledge, the management of M. volkensli was determined by the changing needs of the farmer. The fact that the tree was retained in the shamba was not due to any perceived benefit to the soil stability, soil fertility or the stability of crop yields. The main advantage of the tree being in the shamba was having the tree itself, because it is valuable species. Within the shamba the tree could be protected from goats, although it was most frequently fenced. Farmers believe that the tree grew 'better' when it was managed in the shamba and so continued to maintain the tree amongst the crops despite the 'shading' effect M. volkensii has on adjacent crops. At the end of the dry season, during September/October, many of the trees were severely lopped for fodder. It is possible that the trees' drought resistance and the infrequency of the defoliation was the reason that the trees survived such drastic treatment while under 'environmental stress'. Where fodder 'was not such a crucial requirement the trees were pruned later and the canopy was thinned for the subsequent annual crops. From this study it was not possible to discern a difference in the growth rates of M. volkensii under different management regimes, when grown on different soils or in different climatic conditions. It can not hovvever be concluded that these variables have no effect on tree growth, it is just that the complex relationships obscure any trends in this data set. The research trials showed that the tree has wide variability of growth rates under the same management and conditions. The farmers perceived the grovvth rates of M. volkensii on stony volcanic soils to be 'somehow slower' than that of trees on sandy clay soils. This study also showed that the farmers had no perceptions or knowledge of how their management system could affect the trees overall productivity or rotation period. The farmers' knowledge of the trees management only appeared to be passed on within the family or to close neighbours. The uses of M. volkensii products were found to be various, and characteristic of a subsistence system where nothing goes to waste.