Agroforestry research in farming systems perspective: the ICRAF approach

The International Council for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) is an autonomous, non-profit international research council with a broad mandate to undertake work within the tropical and subtropical regions "to improve the nutritional, economic and social well-being of the peoples of developing countries by the promotion of agroforestry systems designed to result in better land use without detriment to the environment' (ICRAF Charter). Although, the generation of appropriate agroforestry technology is the ultimate objective of ICRAF's work, as a research council rather than an institute, at present ICRAF has neither the mandate nor the resources to undertake large-scale independent field research on the CGIAR model. Rather, ICRAF seeks to accomplish the necessary technology-generating research through collaborative undertakings with national and international partners. Thus, although ICRAF maintains a small field station of its own in Kenya, mainly for purposes of demonstration, training and some small-scale research of a pilot nature, the Council's involvement in technology-generating research is almost wholly through "outreach" activities. The ultimate purpose of these activities is to strengthen the capability of national institutions to undertake meaningful agroforestry research on the scale that is required to meet the burgeoning global demand for sound agroforestry technologies. Initially, the main thrust of the Council's work was on the conceptual and methodological development of agroforestry as a new end, many people would argue, long overdue branch of applied science, emphasizing a holistic approach to lend management

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