Table 2.

Characterization of dominant agroforestry technologies in the SSA region.

Types of agroforestry technologies	Definition	Agroecological niches	Functional roles			Tradeoffs	Selected references
			Productive	Protective	Social-economic support
Cassava-based agroforestry	Agroforestry technologies dominated by cassava, intercropping with trees and/or food and cash crops.	Adaptable to various agroecological zones (arid Sahel, highlands and lowlands)	Biofuel feedstock, firewood, human food, animal feed, & industrial starch	Easing pressure forests	Income diversification	Aggravated soil erosion, fertility depletion, topsoil loss, forest loss and degradation	Onoja et al. (2019), Faße et al. (2014), Delaquis et al. (2017)
Taungya system	A shift cultivation agroforestry technology where communities cultivate food crops in forests until the trees mature enough. Dominant taungya types include leased, departmental and village systems.	Adaptable to different highlands and lowland forest types	Food crop production	High tree survival rates, soil fertility	Income to farmers and forestry department, reduced costs of forests plantation development, employment generation	Conflicts in land tenure systems, legal tussles between forestry departments and farmers on land use, tree-crop competition for available resources	Akamani and Holzmueller (2017), Steppler and Nair (1987), Menzies (1988)
Relay and mixed intercropping	Intercropping technology where succeeding crops are planted before harvesting the first crops within agroforestry lands	Adaptable to different ecological zones depending on the crops-trees combination	High food and biomass production, efficient resources use, crop diversification	Increased soil fertility with the right crops-trees rotation, erosion control, pests & diseases control	Increased farm returns and profitability	Soil infertility and acidification due to continuous food production, tree-crop competition for resources e.g., light, water, and nutrients	Sileshi et al. (2014), Tanveer et al. (2017), Castle et al. (2021)
Scattered agroforestry trees	A technology where agroforestry trees are dispersed in crop and grazing lands	Can adapt to different agroecological niches depending on the tree species and crop combination	Food, feeds and fodder provision, biomass source	Soil properties and fertility improvement, shade provision, microclimate control, biodiversity habitat and conservation, nutrients cycling	Low costs of tree management, income generation from different tree products	Competition between crops and trees for water and nutrients	Kelso and Jacobson, (2011), Tengnas (1994), Castle et al. (2021)
Terracing agroforestry technology	A technology of establishing trees on terraces along sloppy and hilly lands	Mostly applicable in sloppy highlands and hilly areas	Food, fodder, fuelwood production	soil and water conservation, soil fertility, erosion control, sedimentation control downstream	Increased farm yields and profitability	High costs of establishing (and maintaining) terraces in some landscapes	Kiptot & Franzel (2021), Onoja et al. (2019)
Silvopastoral/fodder agroforestry	Agroforestry technology that combines trees, shrubs, and forages with livestock production	Common in pasturelands and ranching systems, largely in the arid and semi-arid areas	Fodder, forage and food provision, fuelwood etc	Conserving biodiversity, carbon sinking, controlling soil erosion, shade provision, microclimate regulation	Income diversification	Potential introduction of invasive species	Balehegn, (2017), Silva-Galicia et al. (2020), Lemes et al. (2021)
Coffee agroforestry	Coffee production technology under different tree shading such as semi-forest, small-scale or large-scale coffee	Mostly in the East African highlands	Coffee production, food and fuelwood provision, timber, and non-timber products	Biodiversity conservation, soil fertility, microclimate regulation, shade provision	Income generation, employment creation	Deforestation for coffee expansion	Getachew (2013), Bucagu (2013), Jemal and Callo-Concha (2017), Duguma et al. (2021)
Fertility trees/shrubs systems	Development of tree and shrub in farmlands (for example Glyricidia/Cassia siamea) to enhance soil fertility through nitrogen-fixing to bring nutrients closer to the soil surface	multiple agroecological zones, especially those with degraded soils	Food, fodder, and fuelwood production	Soil fertility, nitrogen-fixing	Increased farm yield resulting in farm profitability		Teklehaimanot, (2004), Carsan et al. (2014), Cyamweshi et al. (2021)
Improved tree fallows technology	A technology of planting legume trees and crops in rotation arrangement within the farmland	Different agroecological niches depending on trees-crops arrangement	Food, fodder, timber and non-timber products, biomass provision	Improved land productivity, soil fertility, soil carbon sequestration	Rural income diversification	Crop-trees competition for nutrients, water, and other resources	Onoja et al. (2019), Kaczan et al. (2013)
Home gardens	A small-scale production system mainly involving fruits, herbs, vegetables and sometimes animals located near or around the homestead for domestic consumption.	Different niches varying with crop and animal types	Food, fodder, and feeds production	Erosion control, shade	Improved health, income diversification		Steppler and Nair (1987); Depenbusch et al. (2021).