Cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) production systems in West Africa face increasing
\nclimate risks, declining soil fertility, and market pressures that undermine both productivity and sustainability. In response, the \u201cSustainable Mangos and Cashews \u2013 Made in Africa\u201d project\u2014co-funded by the Swiss Coop Sustainability Fund, HALBA, and gebana\u2014 introduced and scaled Dynamic Agroforestry (DAF) as a regenerative, farmer-led approach in Burkina Faso. ECOTOP Suisse GmbH provided system design and continuous advisory support.<\/p>\n
DAF systems mimic natural forest succession through dense, multi-strata plantings, biomass cycling, and continuous soil cover. Between 2022 and 2024, 482 unproductive cashew plantations between 15 to 30 years old were converted into DAF plots (each 2,500 m\u00b2; total 120.5 ha) across 11 villages. On average, plots contained 184 planted trees (736 trees ha\u207b\u00b9), complemented by >2,000 naturally regenerated trees ha\u207b\u00b9, resulting in high species richness. Sixteen tree species were deliberately planted, while more than 20 others regenerated spontaneously. Food crops including pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), sesame (Sesamum indicum), beans, cassava (Manihot esculenta), and vegetables were intercropped. Rows (3 m) were weeded\u2014while preserving regeneration\u2014sown with annual crops and mulched with biomass from strong cashew rejuvenation pruning.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) production systems in West Africa face increasing climate risks, declining soil fertility, and market pressures that undermine both productivity and sustainability. In response, the \u201cSustainable Mangos […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[336,332,328,327,271,254,333,200,334,330,329,264,335,331],"class_list":["post-8251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-publications","tag-agroforestry-scaling","tag-biomass-cycling","tag-burkina-faso","tag-cashew-production","tag-climate-resilience","tag-dynamic-agroforestry","tag-farmer-adoption","tag-food-security","tag-natural-regeneration","tag-regenerative-agriculture","tag-sahel-region","tag-smallholder-farming","tag-tree-crop-systems","tag-yield-comparison"],"yoast_head":"\n