90 Book Reviews
In all his speeches, Mandelacomrnends and thanks groups of individuals throughout the
world whose support led to the unbanning of the ANC and his release from goal.
Romanticism and emotiveness is apparent in Mandela's speeches and makes his references
to past history and personalities, and his use of comparisons, emotionally striking. These
are the speeches of a politician seeking to sway people to his cause. For those interested in
the politics of the South African situation, and the story of the ANC, this book will be useful.
Reviewed by Eulita Nyatito, Social Work Diploma student, Harare.
Agroforestry in SubSaharan Africa. A Farmer's Perspecdve, Cynthia Cook andMibel
Grot, World Bank Technical Paper No 112, mRD/World Bank, Washington DC, 1989
(94pp, US$7,95).
"lbe ecological problem of our time lies in modern science's uncontrollable desire to break
everything down into parts which can be neatly analysed." I cannot remember whose
quotation this was, probably an obscure farmer or gardener. But it is one that I am forced
to recall almost daily. This was especially so reading this World Bank Technical Paper.
There is no doubt it is a good paper, well researched, well planned and carefully put together.
And it will be useful to students of agroforestry, providing an overview of pertinent points
in the dynamic development of agroforestry as a discipline. But, like the discipline of
agroforestry itself, the paper insists on separating out an aspect on the land (ie the use of
woody perennials in agriculture) which perhaps should not be seen as a separate entity.
Reading numerous agroforestry papers one senses this struggle going on: the struggle
between the rational scientist of the twentieth century, trained to specialise and present
specific data, and the very nature of agroforestry which is a frrst step in seeing the landscape
as an interconnected web. Perhaps, however, because of its integrating characteristic.
agroforestry can lead the way to seeing the land and the people on the land as a whole. But
the worrying question is: will the scientists drink when still tethered to a methodology of
division into parts?
Agroforestry in SubSaharan Africa is divided into five chapters:
I. Introduction: which explains how the study was carried out.
n. Agroforestry in Africa: which divides existing agroforestry practices into 10
different categories ranging thern in an order which starts with the more passive and
ends with those which involve much more active planting and management of trees.
Their categories are as follows: savanna, grazing, farmer parklands, tree crops and
shade trees, forested fallow, planted farm trees, homegardens, farm woodlots, forest
plantation farming (taungya), fodder trees, alley cropping. m. Seven case studies: which is the main part of the paper and looks at seven situations
in which agroforestry is being practised. The case studies are from East and West
Africa, cover new and indigenous practices, and are drawn from three different
environments: humid lowlands, semi arid lowlands and cool highlands. Research
for the case studies included spending a week at each place conducting interviews
with across section of the communities concerned, the point being made that "most
of the time was spent in the field with villagers", presumably justifying the subtitle
of the paper: "A Farmer's Perspective"! The seven case studies are:
BookRelliews 91
1. CARE. Kenya Agroforestry Extension
2. Chagga Homegardens, Tanzania
3. Agro-Pastoral Project, Rwanda
4. Alley Farming in Western Nigeria
5. Agroforestry in Northern Nigeria
6. Acacia albida in Southeast Niger
7. Maiiia Valley Windbreaks
N. Identified Issues: which cover lessons learned both from reviewed lik.Tature on
agroforestry and from the case studies.
V. General conclusions and recommendations for future project design and
implementation.
I enjoyed Chapter ill the most but then I'm a farmer at heart and not an academicl
Chapter ill is interesting and alive. Chapter II is useful for someone wanting to pass an
examination in agroforestry while Chapters I,N and V are very dry, but if you are a patient
reader and a policy maker they are useful. Itis a pity thatChapter illwas not developed more
fully (including diagrams/drawings) and that Chapters I,N and V were not put in as
appendices, leaving readers the chance to develop their own conclusions from the case
studies. Unfortunately, as areviewer, Ihad no option but to plough through the very precise,
carefully presented and sub headinged list of identified issues, conclusions and
recommendations. I actually absorbed far more of these from my own deductions while
reading the case studies.
The points that corne through most strongly in the paper are:
* agroforestry already exists all over Africa and has its roots in traditional practices.
* agroforestry must be integrated into the whole farm, the technical aspects must not
ignore the social
* farmers are looking more for shortk.Tmfinancialreturns than longterrnenvironmental
benefits
* success of agroforestry is not more closely linked to private ownership compared
to situations of communal land tenure. Success is far more complicated than such
a simplification
* the only experts on the land are the farmers themselves.
The fIrSt four come into the author's conclusions in some form or another. The fifth is
mine. The trend in agriculture is to start to recognise this latter point and this ~ reflects
this trend: the importance of the farmers is emphasised again and again but the fact that they
are the only real experts is not spelt out. I cannot help feeling that when it is discovered that
every situation on the land is so unique that the only experts can be the users themselves,
research will starltomove in a useful direction This paper, however, is a step in thatdirection
as reflected by the statement in the Preface: ''The challenge now is to find ways to integrate
the new knowledge with the knowledge that farmers already have, so that widespread
adoption of agroforestry systems will improve the welfare of farmers today, as well as the
prospects for sustainable economic growth in the future."
The final30pages( of 94) is a comprehensive bibliography of agroforestrypublications.
Reviewed by Jolm Wilson, Farnbidzanai Training Centre, Harare.