Agroforestry is considered a potential restoration solution to degraded land, impacting multiple ecosystem services while providing essential farm resources such as a food, fodder, fruits, and fuel wood and construction materials. Higher farm productivity and food production diversification allows to capture more value from high commercial and nutritious agroforestry products, and therefore increase the economic and ecological resilience of the farmers. Given the high reliance of the households on tree biomass for energy, the success of the restoration also depends on technologies that promote sustainable use of biomass energy. To this aim, the DeSira project adopts an evidence-based approach generating knowledge on agroforestry-based landscape restoration options and improved cooking stove technologies that will suit different landscapes and households’ circumstances in the Eastern province and peri-urban areas of Kigali city.

The project will conduct research on the biophysical conditions and ecosystem services provision, on value chains development and market opportunities to promote agroforestry products and on the socio-economic characteristics of the farmers, the barriers to adoption of agroforestry and the profitability of agroforestry systems and agroforestry technologies. Furthermore, the project will carry out studies to understand the supply and demand of biomass, analyse the use of current cooking stoves by households, and test different improved cooking stoves. Finally, the project will contribute to institutional capacity development through research and dissemination of research findings. This knowledge will build the foundation for addressing economic, ecological, and behavioural constraints to adoption of agroforestry systems and improved technologies. The knowledge will be translated into evidence that supports the adaptation, adoption and scaling out of technologies and that informs policy decision in agroforestry-based restoration activities.