The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and World Agroforestry (ICRAF) joined forces in 2019, leveraging nearly five decades of trusted science on the role of forests and trees in solving critical global challenges.
Harnessing connections between agroforestry and agroecology
The closing plenary of the 5th World Agroforestry Congress examined the overlap between agroforestry — farming with trees — and agroecology — transforming food systems to farm equitably and in harmony with nature.
The nexus of these two concepts can play a critical role in transforming global food systems, according to the speakers.
Trees are very different from annual crops such as rice and wheat: they have perennial (long-lasting) benefits for people and the planet, including soil enrichment, groundwater recharge and carbon storage. These attributes make agroforestry a useful set of practices in the agroecology toolbox.
‘It is clear that you can have agroforestry without following the principles of agroecology,’ said Fergus Sinclair, chief scientist with the Center of International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF). ‘We’re interested in the intersection of the two — agroecology with trees — to respond to the interacting global challenges of broken food systems, biodiversity loss, land and water degradation and climate change.’
Such tree-based farming will look different depending on the national and local context, a point that was hammered home during the plenary through a series of case studies from Mexico, Brazil, India, Viet Nam and Tanzania. Plenary attendees were also reminded of the importance of a ‘just’ transition that includes the voices of youth, women and indigenous people at the decision-making table.
Different transition pathways
Agroecological transitions with trees will not happen overnight. Drawing on lessons from community-based agroforestry in Andhra Pradesh, India, Swati Renduchintala, an associate scientist with CIFOR-ICRAF embedded with the farmer empowerment organisation Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (RySS), noted that ‘the process is similar to overcoming an alcohol addiction: only step by step can we lose the addiction to chemical fertilizers’.
Renduchintala and her team point out that successful agroecology or ‘natural farming’ relies on a set of universal principles that are applied in context-specific ways over time. These principles include year-round groundcover with diverse crops (which may include tree foods), banning chemical inputs, minimal soil disturbance and bio-stimulants to increase the number of healthy microbes in the soil. Based on results so far, the Andhra Pradesh case study projects a 3–5-year timeline for smallholders to make the full transition from input-intensive agriculture to ‘natural farming’ or agroecology.
Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania is similarly working with over 27,000 smallholders in 150 villages to spark agroecological transitions in their own unique contexts. The organization’s work involves four pillars, explained Executive Director Janet Maro: dissemination of knowledge; application and marketing; research; and networking.
Maro’s organization works with CIFOR-ICRAF on two projects and in 2021 their farmer training centre taught 32 different courses with about 1200 attendees from the local area. When surveyed, the majority of farmers who participated in the courses agreed that agroecological methods, including agroforestry, improved their livelihoods while reducing pressure on natural resources.
Just transitions
The social-movement dimension of tree-based agroecology is just as important as the science, suggested Genna Tesdall, director of Young Professionals for Agricultural Development. Young people, women and indigenous peoples have important perspectives and wisdom that should not be ignored in decision-making processes.
For example, the Yucatec Maya have a long history of shifting cultivation in harmony with the Selva Maya rainforest. However, much of that knowledge has been lost with the Green Revolution’s push for chemical fertilizers, explained Francisco Rosado-May, founding president of the Universidad Intercultural Maya de Quintana Roo. Many farmers are trapped in poverty and no longer know how to improve their yields sustainably. Fortunately, Rosado-May believes there is still time to reverse the trend and restore a dynamic equilibrium between agriculture and ecosystems in the Yucatan Peninsula through intercultural training and sharing of knowledge. Drawing on an old Yucatec saying, he translated as ‘we nurture nature because nature nurtures us’.
Women and ethnic-minority farmers in Northwest Viet Nam had similarly been encouraged to farm with maize monocultures on sloping land, which has degraded landscapes, according to Mai Phuong Nguyen, associate scientist with CIFOR-ICRAF. However, both ICRAF’s Agroforestry for Smallholder Livelihoods in Northwest Viet Nam (AFLI) and Agroecology for Resilient Landscapes for the Poor in Northern Uplands of Viet Nam projects have shown positive results restoring entire landscapes with tree-based agroecology. For example, in the AFLI project, women and other smallholders using agroforestry practices had higher social benefit than a control group.
Youth engagement is also pivotal to shepherd current and future generations in a more sustainable direction. About 70 percent of Sub-Saharan Africans are under the age of 30. Such a large majority should be represented at discussion tables for the future of food systems, stressed Tesdall. Additionally, she noted, young people are often more willing to take creative approaches that break the business-as-usual barrier.
Farmers themselves have the power to organize and advocate for more ecological agroforestry practices. Juliana Pino, a farmer from the Brazilian Pampa and representative of the Agroforestry Association from the South Coast of Brazil (AALIS), highlighted the importance of agroecology in the fight against local environmental threats, such as pollution from increased mining and agrochemical plants. Another Brazilian representative stressed the importance of farmers collaborating with universities and research institutions to better resist powerful and politically connected agribusinesses in the country.
Harnessing the nexus
Finding the ‘sweet spot’ where agroforestry and agroecology come together will mean ‘reframing agroforestry to understand how trees can help meet agroecological outcomes’, said Marney Isaac, professor at the University of Toronto and Canada Research Chair in Agroecosystems and Development.
One important initiative that champions the agroecology–agroforestry nexus is the Transformative Partnership Platform on Agroecology that works in a series of engagement landscapes focused on addressing knowledge and implementation constraints, explained Sinclair.
At the international level, the Committee on World Food Security, the Group of Friends of Agroecology in Rome and the Agroecology TPP gave birth to the Agroecology Coalition as a platform for action that emerged from the United Nations Food Systems Summit with 34 countries, including the European Union and African Union, signed up for action alongside more than 65 organisations.
‘Given the current global food and fertiliser price spikes, there is a dangerous narrative from some quarters saying, “we can’t go down the agroecological route right now; we need to up production at all costs.” This is even leading to rolling back some environmental protections around pesticide use, even though we know that the interactions between agricultural intensification and climate change are causing catastrophic biodiversity loss,’ said Sinclair. ‘National food security based on imported fertilisers is turning out to be very insecure, as countries struggle to afford imports and farmers balk at the cost. Therefore, it is important that the Agroecology Coalition is a coalition of the willing: instead of trying to get all countries to agree on something at the UN before they can act, the like-minded countries in the Coalition are effecting agroecological transformation now and others will be able to follow.’
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World Agroforestry (ICRAF) is a centre of scientific and development excellence that harnesses the benefits of trees for people and the environment. Knowledge produced by ICRAF enables governments, development agencies and farmers to utilize the power of trees to make farming and livelihoods more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable at multiple scales. ICRAF is one of the 15 members of the CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future. We thank all donors who support research in development through their contributions to the CGIAR Fund.
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