Agroforestry means growing trees on farms to improve livelihoods and to protectthe environment. Even though farmers have used trees in crop and livestock farming systems for centuries, it is only over the last decades that this approach to land use gained more prominence. Worldwide increase of populations and the associated agricultural land use has led to the degradation of the natural resource base. The resulting deforestation is reaching alarming rates in many developing countries in the tropics. Established in 1977, the World Agroforestry Centre, previously known as the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), has a global mandate to conduct strategic and applied agroforestry and integrated natural resources management research and development of appropriate agroforestry technologies for more sustainable and productive land use in partnership with nationalinstitutions. The Centre aims to improve human welfare by a lleviating poverty,increasing cash income, especially among women and improving food and nutritionalsecurity. It aims to enhance environmental resilience by replenishing soil fertility,conserving the soil, enhancing biological diversity, sequestering carbon and reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.
Publication year
2003
Authors
Language
English
Keywords
agroforestry, education, training, economic growth, rural development, greenhouse gases
