Tree domestication: better trees for rural prosperity

Domestication of agroforestry trees is an accelerated and human induced evolution to bring species into wider cultivation through a farmer-driven or market-led process (A.J.Simons 1996). In applied terms, domestication is the naturalisation of a species to improve its cultivation and use for humankind. Basically, any activity that improves the ability of people to grow and utilise trees – either for products or services - isdomestication.•Domestication is more than just tree breeding! A common misconception is that domestication equals tree breeding - which is only one of its aspects. (As a matter of fact tree breeding is important for only a very small number of agroforestry tree species). Tree domestication includes a range of many other activities – exploration and collection of natural or anthropogenic populations, evaluation and selection of suitable species and provenances, developing propagation techniques, multiplication and dissemination of germplasm, development of management techniques, utilisation and tree-productmarketing, and the development and dissemination of relevant technical information