Agroforestry is defined as ‘agriculture with trees’.
But it is so much more.

Agroforestry is the interaction of agriculture and trees, including the agricultural use of trees. This comprises trees on farms and in agricultural landscapes, farming in forests and along forest margins and tree-crop production, including cocoa, coffee, rubber and oil palm. Interactions between trees and other components of agriculture may be important at a range of scales: in fields (where trees and crops are grown together), on farms (where trees may provide fodder for livestock, fuel, food, shelter or income from products including timber) and landscapes (where agricultural and forest land uses combine in determining the provision of ecosystem services).

Agroforestry is agricultural and forestry systems that try to balance various needs:

1. To produce trees for timber and other commercial purposes
2. To produce a diverse, adequate supply of nutritious foods both to meet global demand and to satisfy the needs of the producers themselves
3. To ensure the protection of the natural environment so that it continues to provide resources and environmental services to meet the needs of the present generations and those to come.

Agroforestry involves a wide range of trees that are protected, regenerated, planted or managed in agricultural landscapes as they interact with annual crops, livestock, wildlife and humans. As natural forests are cleared for agriculture and other types of development, the benefits that trees provide are best sustained by integrating them into agriculturally-productive landscapes. This has a long history stretching back millennia.

Agroforestry and ICRAF

The very concept of agroforestry has been inextricably linked to ICRAF since their co-creation 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 last four decades, World Agroforestry (ICRAF) has drawn on a vast body of local wisdom and traditional knowledge from all over the planet. There are numerous examples of traditional farming communities cultivating tree species in intimate combination with agricultural crops to create a healthy, harmonious symbiosis.

For example, farmers in Central America have been known to plant more than 20 different species of plants on plots of no more than one-tenth of a hectare, each with a different form, together corresponding to the layered configuration of mixed tropical forests. These plots may contain coconut or papaya, with a lower layer of bananas or citrus, a shrub layer of coffee or cacao, tall and low annuals such as maize, and finally a spreading ground cover of plants such as squash. Such systems have multiple benefits, providing a diverse range of food, with trees providing shade and preventing erosion and water evaporation.

Numerous other examples can be found in traditional farming systems around the world, with many involving the integration of cultivated land with original 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 becoming increasingly accepted, thanks largely to ICRAF working with farmers, governments, and research and training institutions to provide the evidence for the multiple benefits of agroforestry.

This has involved high-level policy engagement at international and national levels to develop guiding documents, policies, frameworks, laws and regulations; participatory design and management of farm trials; building the capacity of agricultural and forestry extension services, combining their separate knowledge for mutual benefit; and creating methods for designing, measuring, monitoring and evaluating carbon, water, systems and landscapes.

Agroforestry, as evidenced by the activities of ICRAF and our partners, contributes directly to SDGs) 1 (no poverty), 2 (zero hunger), 3 (good health and wellbeing), 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).

Impact has been felt all over the planet, particularly, in recent times with increased awareness of the need to build resilience to climate change, which is seeing governments, non-governmental organizations and farmers demanding enhanced knowledge to expand the scale of agroforestry for food security and climate resilience.

For example, we have supported the demand of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for this purpose by playing a leading role in the creation of the ASEAN Guidelines for Agroforestry Development, supported by the Swiss Development Cooperation Agency, that were endorsed by the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry in 2018, with initial implantation underway across the region of 650 million people.

The Regreening 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 African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative of the African Union and other regional and international entities.

In the coffee sector in Peru, World Agroforestry is working with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Agence Française de Développement as a financial partner in support of national adaptation and mitigation actions.

In Central Asia, ICRAF has developed fast-growing poplar species to restore land and increase soil health on farms, act as windbreaks, provide fodder and improve the livelihoods of farmers.

In the rugged conditions of Northwest Viet Nam, World Agroforestry developed a range of mixed tree and crop systems for steeply sloping lands that have proven so economically attractive to farmers (while also restoring severely degraded landscapes). In fact, widespread adoption is underway, encouraged by three provincial governments that have established 50-hectare demonstration landscapes in each of their jurisdictions, with strong support from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).

Benefits of trees

Trees play a crucial role in almost all terrestrial ecosystems and provide a range of important products and services to both rural and urban communities. Most trees have multiple uses, including cultural ones, and typically provide a range of benefits. They have also been used as land-boundary markers and to confer land-use rights. Trees are fundamental for land regeneration to improve soil health.

In short, there is nothing better than a tree to simultaneously:

• Sequester carbon from the atmosphere
• Bring up water and nutrients from deep in the ground
• Provide a framework for above- and belowground biodiversity to flourish
• Build soil organic matter and thus soil carbon
• Create regulating micro-climates
• Provide fodder and shelter for livestock
• Innovate diversified farm enterprises
• Make agricultural landscapes more resilient
• Record climate history