UNHIDE Agroforestry booklet 2025.09.22 - Flipbook - Page 11
Hazels planted on less fertile parts of the land.
manager the curb poverty donation campaign
“Plant a forest in Kenya instead of giving flowers
as a gift” had been a huge success in Sweden.
Nurseries had been started in Kenya and tree
seedlings distributed to local farmers. But due to
the lack of experience many seedlings died, and
the local farmers showed moderate interest. At
this point Tor was given the task of better anchoring the benefits of tree planting among farmers.
With Tor’s efforts, the larger nurseries established
were replaced by training of local farmers, educating them how to start “home nurseries” to grow
suitable seedlings themselves, and to guide them
how to effectively use trees as a tool; one tree being good at providing shade, a second to provide
fertilizer, a third to provide pest control, a fourth
to provide firewood, a fifth serving as a fence.
What could not be used as building material
could be useful as compost and turned into soil.
Tor was a successful manager. During his assignment We-agroforestry became an independent
foundation and employed 150 field workers. The
mother nursery in Kitale, Kenya grew and expanded into the “Olof Palme Agroforestry Centre”. The
business spread around Lake Victoria to Uganda,
Tanzania and Rwanda. A collaboration with SIDA
developed, but became the cause of a long controversy in which We-agroforestry fought for its
autonomy. There were other controversies as well.
Nitrogen-fixing goat’s-rue (Galega officinalis) sawn under the
hazels. Cultivated as forage, bee plant, and as green manure
to add organic matter to the soil.
UNDER STATE PRESSURE,
EUCALYPTUS AND CYPRESS
WERE PLANTED AS MONOCULTURES IN THE SYSTEMS
INTENDED FOR AGROFORESTRY, WHILE TOR ADVOCATED SILVOPASTORAL
SYSTEMS WITH A DIVERSITY OF LOCAL SPECIES.
As a former forest inspector, Tor saw a parallel to
the monocultures of spruce planted in Sweden:
“spruce suits the forest industry, increased yield
is the only thing that matters, and that view dominates both research and education.” He proudly
adds: “the last time spruce was planted here was in
1997.”
•
In the Väversunda farm shop hazelnuts, walnuts,
strawberries, rhubarb, wild garlic, blackberries,
cherry dogwoods, pears, peaches, apricots,
chokeberry, quinces, gooseberries, currants of
various varieties etc are sold seasonally.
