Factors inciting agroforestry adoption based on trees outside forest in Biosphere Reserve of Yangambi landscape (Democratic Republic of the Congo)

The Biosphere Reserve of Yangambi (BRY) landscape is facing the challenge of conserving biodiversity while supporting the food security of local communities. Farmers, in search of fertile soil, travel long distances to establish their fields, sometimes in the core area of the reserve. Faced with this reality, agroforestry is an alternative that could contribute to improving local livelihoods while protecting forests and biodiversity in this protected area (PA). This study was conducted in order to identify factors which motivate and/or inhibit farmers for adopting agroforestry practices. To this end, household surveys were conducted in three villages bordering the BRY, namely Bengamisa, Lilanda and Yaselia. The results revealed that only the age of farmers influence significantly agroforestry adoption and 56.2% of the respondents deliberately leave naturally occurring agroforestry species in their farmlands. In order to benefit from the collection of edible caterpillars and fruits, improvement of soil fertility, extraction of medicinal products, production of charcoal and exploitation of timber. However, 43.8% of respondents who were not in favor of agroforestry feared accidents due to windfall, as well as for the collapse of agricultural production. The ethnobotanical analysis revealed that Petersianthus macrocarpus sp. and Erythrophleum suaveolens sp. had the highest use value due to their multi-functionality in the BRY landscape. Thus, the extension work to promote these species could increase the rate of agroforestry adoption and contribute to sedentarization of farmers which in turn reduce the rate of deforestation and promote biodiversity conservation in BRY landscape.