Indigenous agroforestry and sustainable development in Mutoko Communal District, Zimbabwe

This study examines the nature of indigenous agroforestry, that is the use, conservation and cultivation of trees and woodlands by rural inhabitants in the communal farming system in northeastern Zimbabwe. Villages in four wards of Mutoko Communal District serve as study sites.;The purpose of this examination is to evaluate indigenous agroforestry's present role as well as its potential in contributing to sustainable development. The study challenges the Western model of "project agroforestry" and emphasizes the central importance of a community and ecosystem context for sustainable development.;Three primary questions frame the research. What conceptual framework is most appropriate in the local context for addressing agroforestry's role in sustainable development? What are the parameters of indigenous agroforestry in communal Zimbabwe and what do the study results show? In what ways does indigenous agroforestry contribute to the sustainability of the rural farming system? An adjunct fourth question addresses the role of project agroforestry by the Zimbabwe Forestry Commission and the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry, among other agencies.;A conceptual framework for sustainable development is presented that takes a normative, systems approach to people in the context of their landscape ecology. The goals of sustainable development (and the broader objectives of this study) are maintaining or restoring integrity in the households, communities and ecosystems of the farming landscape. The agroforestry objectives are activities which spread tree species valued by farmers in appropriate agroecosystem locations.;The study findings emphasize the multiple uses of more than 60 species of indigenous and exotic trees including their importance for fruit and medicine, fuel, fodder and construction materials. The continued spiritual significance of trees and woodland is described in a conservation ethic concerning sacred groves and fruit trees. Conservation and cultivation of trees are examined according to their agroecosystem locations on the farming landscape.;The subsequent sustainability analysis incorporates an assessment framework evaluating the improving, stable or declining condition of different parts of the agroforestry system. The study concludes with proposals for improvement and an evaluation of the overall prospects for indigenous agroforestry.