Agroforestry is defined as ‘farming with trees’.
However, it is more than that.
Agroforestry is the interaction between agriculture and trees, including the use of trees for agricultural purposes. This includes trees on farmland and in agricultural landscapes, agriculture in forests and along forest edges, and the production of tree crops, including cocoa, coffee, rubber and oil palm. Interactions between trees and other agricultural components may be important at multiple scales: on farms (where trees and crops are grown together), on agricultural land (where trees may provide fodder, fuel, food, shelter or income from products including timber) and on landscapes (where agricultural and forest land uses are combined to provide ecosystem services).
Agroforestry is a farming and forestry system that seeks to balance the needs of: 1) producing trees for timber and other commercial purposes; 2) producing a diverse and sufficient supply of nutritious food to meet global demand and to meet the needs of producers themselves; and 3) to ensure the protection of the natural environment so that it continues to provide resources and environmental services to meet the needs of present and future generations.
Agroforestry involves a variety of trees being protected, regenerated, planted or managed in agricultural landscapes as they interact with perennial crops, livestock, and wildlife. And humans.
When natural forests are cleared for agriculture and other types of development, the benefits provided by trees can be maintained by integrating them into agriculturally productive landscapes. This has a long history dating back thousands of years, long before World Agroforestry was established.
Agroforestry and ICRAF
The concept of agroforestry has been closely associated with ICRAF since its inception in the 1970s; indeed, the word itself was coined to describe our work.
In facilitating the emergence of a new paradigm for agriculture and forestry over the past four decades, World Agroforestry (ICRAF) has drawn on a wealth of indigenous wisdom and traditional knowledge from around the world. There are many examples of traditional farming communities cultivating tree species in close combination with agricultural crops to create a healthy and harmonious symbiosis.
For example, farmers in Central America are known to grow more than 20 different species of crops on plots of land no larger than a tenth of a hectare, each with a different shape, in keeping with the layered configuration of a mixed tropical forest. These plots might contain coconuts or papayas, with an understory of bananas or citrus, a layer of coffee or cocoa bushes, tall and low annuals such as maize, and finally a spreading ground cover such as squash. Such systems have many benefits, providing a diverse diet, and the trees provide shade and prevent erosion and water evaporation.
Many other examples can be found in traditional agricultural systems around the world, most of which involve the integration of farmland with native forests that provide food, medicines, construction wood and cosmetics, in addition to their protective services.
The use of trees in agriculture to meet local, national and international goals is now gaining acceptance, thanks in large part to ICRAF’s work with farmers, governments and research and training institutions to provide evidence of the multiple benefits of agroforestry.
This involves high-level policy engagement at international and national levels to develop guidance documents, policies, frameworks, laws and regulations; participatory design and management of agricultural trials; building agricultural and forestry extension capacity, combining their respective knowledge for mutual benefit; and creating methods for designing, measuring, monitoring and evaluating carbon, water, systems and landscapes.
Agroforestry, as demonstrated by the activities of ICRAF and their partners, contributes directly to SDGs: 1 (no poverty), 2 (zero hunger), 3 (good health and well-being), 6 (clean water and sanitation), 7 (affordable and clean energy), 8 (decent work and economic growth), 11 (sustainable cities and communities), 12 (responsible consumption and production), 13 (climate action), and 15 (life on land) and indirectly through implementation approaches to Goals 4 (quality education), 5 (gender equality), 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure), 10 (reduced inequalities), 14 (life below water), 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions) and 17 (partnerships for the goals).
Its impact has been felt around the world, particularly recently with the growing awareness of the need to build resilience to climate change, with governments, non-governmental organizations and farmers demanding increased knowledge to scale up agroforestry for food security and climate resilience.
For example, they have supported the demands of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to this end by playing a leading role in the development of the ASEAN Guidelines for Agroforestry Development, supported by the Swiss Development Cooperation Agency, endorsed by the ASEAN Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry in 2018, with initial implementation underway in a region of 650 million people.
The Greening Africa project, led by ICRAF with support from the European Union, is restoring over 1 million hectares of degraded land on the continent using agroforestry systems and practices in eight Sub-Saharan countries. Partners include the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative of the African Union and other regional and international entities.
Benefits of Trees
Trees play a vital role in almost all terrestrial ecosystems and provide a range of essential products and services to rural and urban communities. Most trees have multiple uses, including cultural ones, and often provide a range of benefits. They have also been used to mark land boundaries and to assign land use rights. Trees are essential in land regeneration to improve soil health.
In short, nothing does a tree do more than:
Sequester carbon from the atmosphere
Bring up water and nutrients from the soil
Provide a framework for above and belowground biodiversity to thrive
Build soil organic matter and thus soil carbon
Create microclimate settings
Provide food and shelter for livestock
Innovate diversified agricultural enterprises
Make agricultural landscapes more resilient
Record climate history
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