Agroforestry systems help mitigating climate change in the long run through carbon sequestration in soil and trees and lower levels of methane and nitrous oxide emissions compared to agriculture without trees. They thus contribute to meeting global climate change mitigation targets. By providing better resistance and resilience to biotic and abiotic stresses, agroforestry could also help to adapt to climate change. Thanks to the shade they provide, trees offer protection for crops, livestock and farmers against extreme climate phenomena such as rising temperature. By reducing soil evaporation and crop transpiration and increasing water infiltration, they could help to resist to episodes of low and erratic rainfall. Agroforestry also increases farmers’ resilience through crop diversification by providing resources such as fruits, nuts, medicinal products and timber, therefore ensuring a secure source of income. It is one of the cheapest adaptation strategies for low-income communities, which are more at risk when facing climate change due to increased exposure and vulnerability. But to what extent does agroforestry help mitigating climate change and adapting to it? What conditions are needed for ensuring that agroforestry can play its role? How does it compare with other “climate-smart” options, in terms of efficiency and affordability? Can we upscale at global scale the potential impact on the climate of a generalization of agroforestry? This session aims to find ways for agroforestry to contribute to transitioning to a viable climate.
CIFOR-ICRAF speaker
Presentations
Riparian agroforestry systems – the role of biodiversity in soil carbon sequestration
Serra-Willow Buchanan, University of Toronto, Canada
Selecting agroforestry plant materials for a changing climate: North American examples
Gary Bentrup, USDA National Agroforestry Center, United States
Analysis of the agroforestry measures in National Adaptation Plans (NAPs)
Alexandre Meybeck, CIFOR-ICRAF, Italy
Quantifying system-level carbon sequestration in diverse temperate agro-ecosystem riparian buffers in southern Ontario, Canada
Enoch Ofosu, University of Guelph, School of Environmental Science, Canada
Co-benefits, trade-offs, and uncertainty: evaluating agroforestry for climate change mitigation using multi-criteria decision analysis
Kira Borden, University of Guelph, Canada
