Plant species in the Kilimanjaro agroforestry system

An inventory of plant species was conducted on farms, farm boundaries and homesteads in the Kilimanjaro agroforestry system. The survey covered 30 farms in 6 villages in Hai District on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Over 100 plant species spread over 40 families were identified and their uses obtained through interviews with farmers. The species identified include 53 tree species, 29 food crop species, 21 non-woody plants of economic value and 8 weed species. The food crops, trees and other economically useful plants are carefully chosen by the local farmers and intimately intercropped on the same unit of land. In most cases, the plants had two or more uses of which food, fuelwood, medicine, poles, timber and fodder were the most important.