The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR and World Agroforestry (ICRAF) joined forces in 2019, leveraging a combined 65 years’ experience in research on the role of forests and trees in solving critical global challenges.
To manage the challenges associated with the heavy reliance on fuelwood for cooking among rural farmers in Kenya, a systematic package of innovations addressing both sustainable tree supply and efficient/healthy consumption is required. On farms, cuttings taken from the pruning of multiuse woody plants, such as fruit trees, can provide households with an affordable and convenient source of firewood. Agroforestry or agriculture with trees for small farms may be carried out in different ways, where trees are planted along boundaries, as live fences, intercropped with crops or pasture or in woodlots. A study carried out in Kibugu village in Embu County showed that 40 % of the farmers depended exclusively on agroforestry for firewood supply (Njenga et al., 2017). Grevillea robusta grown mainly for timber was the main source of firewood. Growing a farm boundary is a common practice among farmers, in which an average of 1 acre had between 15 and 386 trees – an average of 116. Farmers practiced a well-developed pruning regime after every 2 years as a management practice to enhance the quality of timber and stimulate biomass production. Pruning is carried out during the dry season, which allows firewood to dry under the sun and reduce its moisture content and consequently the amount of smoke it creates in the kitchen. Some of the farmers produce surplus firewood that they sell to neighbours as a source of income. Sourcing firewood from farms has the added benefit of easing the burden women experience in gathering other sources of fuelwood, for which they travel an average of 8 km per day.

