| Journal Article |
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| Article Title | Agroforestry and deforestation in Malawi: inter-linkages between attitudes, beliefs and behaviours | | Author | Seline S. Meijer, Gudeta W. Sileshi, Delia Catacutan and Maarten Nieuwenhuis | | Year | 2015 | | Journal Title | Agroforestry System | | Institution | Springer | | Pages | 1-14 | | Call Number | JA0639-15 | | Keywords | Attitudes, Tree planting, Forest extraction, Theory of planned behaviour, Malawi |
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| Abstract: |
| Farm-level tree planting has been suggested
to have potential to decrease pressures on
natural forests and, consequently, contribute towards
reducing deforestation and forest degradation. However,
the scientific evidence for such a link is limited.
We examined farmers’ beliefs, attitudes and behaviours
in relation to tree planting on farms and cutting
down trees from the forest, as one way of establishing
this link. A household survey was administered to 200
farmers in two rural districts in Malawi, which
included an attitude scale based on the theory of
planned behaviour. The results showed that farmers in
Malawi recognise the benefits of planting trees, feel
encouraged by fellow farmers, and feel capable of
planting trees on their land. In addition, they believe
cutting down trees from the forest will result in mainly
negative outcomes, and feel discouraged by others and
hindered by control factors to cut down trees from the
forest. In total, 76 % of respondents planted trees in
the past 5 years, 50 % collected firewood from the
forest and 21 % collected poles. There was no
evidence for a direct relationship between attitudes
towards planting trees and cutting down trees, nor
were the behaviours in relation to tree planting and
cutting down trees from the forest significantly
associated. However, there was evidence for an
indirect relationship between tree planting behaviour
and cutting down trees from the forest, as respondents
who had planted trees had more negative attitudes
towards cutting down trees from the forest. Future
research should further explore the direct relationship
between agroforestry and deforestation to establish if
and under what conditions such a relationship might
exist. |
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