In agroforestry, hedgerows can play a dual role:
A defensive role and a shelterbelt role.
In Africa, in particular, the main threat to vegetable gardens comes from wandering animals, unregulated wandering herds or whose shepherds feed the animals without worrying about crop damage.
The living hedges, made up of thorns, can constitute in a few years an effective natural barrier.
There is of course a critical phase when the plans are young and vulnerable.
Two techniques.
The purists, like APAF, for example, consider that the farmers who install their plot must watch it during the day when the animals can be a threat, also using natural repellents sprayed on the leaves.
The intermediate method consists in placing a temporary wire mesh, until the hedges are large enough to constitute an effective barrier.
Then the wire mesh is removed, and placed on another plot.
