New findings concerning nitrogen fertilizer use and alternatives in form of trees were announced at the opening of the 2nd World Congress of Agroforestry, which is being held in Nairobi, Kenya this week.

Nitrogen fertilizers are predominately used for maize production increase, which is the staple food of Africa. Nitrogen fertilizers are presently made using fossil fuelsConventional energy from fossil sources, such as natural gas and oil. This type of energy contributes to climate change and because of its finite nature it is not a permanent resource. such as natural gas and coal, which are limited and increasingly expensive, putting further pressure on African farmers trying to achieve food securityA situation that exists when people have secure access to sufficient amounts of safe and nutritious food for normal growth, development and an active and healthy life. Food insecurity may be caused by the unavailability of food, insufficient purchasing power, inappropriate distribution, or .... Nitrogen fertilizer is often synthesized producing ammonia. The production of ammonia currently consumes about 5% of global natural gas consumption, which is somewhat fewer than 2% of world energyThe ability to perform work, mainly kinetic, potential, thermal energy, but also in forms of gravitational, sound, elastic and electromagnetic energy. production. The cost of natural gas makes up about 90% of the cost of producing ammonia. The price increases in natural gas in the past decade, along with other factors such as increasing demand, have contributed to an continued increase in fertilizer price. Storage and application of some nitrogen fertilizers can cause emissionsEmissions of greenhouse gases, greenhouse gas precursors, and aerosols associated with human activities, including the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, land-use changes, livestock, fertilisation, etc. (IPCC) of the greenhouse gasGreenhouse gas emissions cause dangerous anthropogenic climate change. Emissions include CO2, fluoridated gases, methane which are emitted by human activity such as deforestation and burning fossil fuels, and water vapour. nitrous oxideOne of the six types of greenhouse gases to be curbed under the Kyoto Protocol. The main anthropogenic source of nitrous oxide is agriculture (soil and animal manure management), but important contributions also come from sewage treatment, combustion of fossil fuel, and chemical industrial .... Ammonia gas may be emitted following application of such fertilizers. Besides supplying nitrogen, ammonia can also increase soil acidity. Excessive nitrogen fertilizer applications can also lead to pest problems by increasing the overall fitness of certain pests, some of which are linked to the spread of diseasesAny disease caused by microbial agents that can be transmitted from one person to another or from animals to people. This may occur by direct physical contact, by handling of an object that has picked up infective organisms, through a disease carrier, via contaminated water, or by spread of ....

Now scientists have revealed through Satellite images that around 50% of farmland worldwide have at least 10% cover of trees, and linked these findings to increased crop production. These findings have lead to ‘tree plant solutions’ put forward at the 2nd World Congress of Agroforestry, suggesting it could be a long-term solution to food security as well as a step towards combating ClimateClimate is typically defined as the average weather (or more rigorously a statistical description of the average in terms of the mean and variability) over a period of time, usually 30 years. These quantities are most often surface variables such as temperature, precipitation, and wind. Climate ... Chance. It concludes that maize production could be increased 4- fold by using trees as organic fertilizers without increased labour or use of nitrogen fertilizer. Dennis Garrity, of The World Agroforestry Centre, said: “The problem is that policymakers and planners have been slow to recognize this phenomenon and take advantage of the beneficial effect of planting trees on farms. Trees are providing farmers with everything from carbon sequestrationThe uptake and storage of carbon. Trees and plants, for example, absorb carbon dioxide, release the oxygen and store the carbon. Fossil fuels were at one time biomass and continue to store the carbon until burned., to nuts and fruits, to windbreaks and erosion control, to fuel for heating and timber for housing. Unless such practices are brought to scale in farming communities worldwide, we will not benefit from the full value trees can bring to livelihoodsSustainable livelihood includes job opportunities that are of a non-invasive type, and exclude extensive felling, heavy fishery, mono-cultures and other activities than permanently harm the environment; it also includes an lifestyle that takes care of any gives assets, such as fresh water or ... and landscapes.”

The Faidherbia tree has been found to fulfil many requirements for widespread use in African farming, because it sheds leaves and goes dormant during early rainy season and grows during dry season. It does therefore not compete with food crop for light, water and nutrition. It takes nitrogen from the air, fixes it in its leaves and incorporates it into the soil.

It has been shown there’s a crop increase of up to 280% for fields under tree canopy. In Zambia, unfertilized fields benefiting from tree planting produced 4.1 t/ hectares compared to fields nearby only producing 1.3t/hectares.

Maize yields in Africa are only 1/10 of yields in America, which is being contributed to limited fertilizer use. Top users of nitrogen fertilizer are China and the US, with no African country in the top ten of users.

Prof. W. Maathai, who was awarded the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize for work that included planting more than 30 million trees to provide food, fuel, shelter and income for Africa’s rural poor, sees the planting of trees on farms as a natural fertilizer fix, much needed in order  to adapt to extreme weatherWeather refers to the state of the atmosphere with regard to temperature, cloudiness, rainfall, wind, and other meteorological conditions. (UKCIP) conditions due to Climate ChangeClimate change is a lasting change in weather patterns over long periods of time. It can be a natural phenomena and and has occurred on Earth even before people inhabited it. Quite different is a current situation that is also referred to as climate change, anthropogenic climate change, or .... Trees also act as windbreaks and protect watersheds, and improve resiliency of farmers to provide food and income. When crop and livestock fail, trees can withstand the drought conditions and help farmers to hold over to the next season.

Farming has always been associated with deforestation, but it has been proved that farms and forestsForestry is the management and care of woods, including fellings and plantation of new trees. are by no means exclusive.  According to experts at the World Agroforestry Centre, farmers, particularly in developing countries, would adopt various agroforestry practices more rapidly if their trees were included in international climate change mitigation schemes now under development.

“The data in this report illustrate that agroforestry will be critical to efforts aimed at making agricultureCultivation of the ground and harvesting of crops and handling of livestock, the primary function is the provision of food and feed. more productive and sustainable in order to contribute to the alleviation of climate change,” said Garrity. “It is estimated that further investments in agroforestry over the next 50 years could remove significant amounts of carbon dioxideCarbon dioxide (CO2) is emitted in several ways. Naturally through the carbon cycle and through human activities like the burning of fossil fuels. These human activities have increased CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere since the beginning of the industrial revolution and these high ... from the atmosphere.”

This is yet another example that proves that energy efficiencyUsing less energy/electricity to perform the same function. Programs designed to use electricity more efficiently - doing the same with less. and increased productivity do not contradict each other and could be a milestone for the developing world.