1 Status and prospects of farm forestry practices in central Ethiopia, a case of western Guraghe Highlands

The objective of the present study is to assess farm forestry decision-making strategies of smallholder farmers and to identify major choice constraints. It attempts to determine the potential of integrating multipurpose tree and shrub species into the existing land use units and its contribution to the objective of guaranteeing food self-sufficiency and sustainable livelihood. It also sheds some light on the deficiencies of current extension packages in helping farmers exploit the potentials of agroforestry innovations. Farmers in the study area mainly employ eucalypt as major on-farm tree species both for meeting household wood demands and generating cash revenues. Farmers ’ decisions to plant multipurpose tree and shrub species are constrained mainly by lack of sufficient knowledge and planting materials. Inadequate or absence of marketing infrastructure, exploitative marketing arrangements, poor organizational support, weak provision of inputs, callous credit facilities, etc. represent institutional deficiencies. Among ecological factors, erratic rainfall patterns stand prominent. Related problems such as shortage of farmland, ruinous wild animals, destructive crop diseases and pests, seriously debilitat