<i>Trees 'boost African crop yields, food security'</i>
Planting trees that improve soil quality can help boost crop yields for African farmers, an assessment shows.
Fertiliser tree systems (FTS) also help boost food security and play a role in "climate proofing" the region's arable land, the paper adds.
Researchers from the World Agroforestry Centre say poor soil fertility is one of the main obstacles to improving food production in Africa.
The results appear in the International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability.
"In Africa, it is generally agreed that poor soil management - along with poor water management - is most greatly affecting yields," explained co-author Frank Place, head of the centre's Impact Assessment team.
He said that despite chemical fertilisers having been on the market for more than half a century, farmers appeared reluctant or unable to buy them.
"Therefore, there have been a lot of attempts to bring in other types of nutrients from other systems - such as livestock and plants" he told BBC News.
"We have been working quite a lot on what is broadly referred to as 'fertiliser tree systems'."
Although it has been known for centuries that certain plants, such as legumes, "fix" nitrogen in the soil and boost food crop yields, Dr Place said that the centre's researchers had been looking to develop a more active management approach such as FTS.
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