IMPACTS OF AGROFORESTRY SYSTEM DYNAMICS ON REGIONAL AGRICULTURE AND ECOLOGY: A CASE STUDY OF WESTERN ALGERIA

Abstract

This research combines geographic and agronomic data to produce detailed cartographic representations of land use/land-cover (LULC) change in Mamounia municipality (Western Algeria) over a 31-year period (1989-2020). Our approach integrates GIS-based mapping of land occupation dynamics with an agronomic survey of local farmers, reinforced by repeated field-truthing visits to validate map classifications and refine land-use descriptions. This mixedmethods framework allowed us to quantify shifts in land cover, such as the decrease in cereal-fallow systems (67.02% to 35.21%) and the expansion of mixed-crop orchards and agroforestry systems (2.03% to 12.19%), and to focus on farmers’ perceptions and motives behind these transitions. Our findings reveal a clear shift from monoculture toward diversified tree-crop. Our findings reveal a clear shift from monoculture toward diversified tree crop systems, with an expansion of 46.55% for olive groves and of 213.49 % for vineyards. In addition, farmers mentioned soil conservation benefits that result from intercropping and many expressed interest in formal agroforestry. These findings help authorities and national policy makers establish sustainable land management strategies and better agroforestry research in Algeria.