"Agroforestry refers to any of a broad range of land use practices where pasture or crops are integrated with trees and shrubs."
Policies and regulations play a significant role in shaping the adoption of Agroforestry practices. Understanding policy and regulatory frameworks that support Agroforestry is essential in creating an enabling environment for the practice.
Agricultural Policy and Regulations: These are the laws, rules, and regulations that govern the agricultural sector, including agroforestry practices.
Land Use Planning: This refers to the process of allocating land for different uses, including agroforestry, and ensuring that the use of land is sustainable.
Forest Management: This involves the planning, implementation and monitoring of measures to protect and enhance forests; and in the context of agroforestry, it is particularly important to ensure the sustainable use of forest resources.
Community-Based Forest Management: This is an approach to the management of forests and trees that involves local communities in decision-making and implementation to promote sustainable use of forest resources.
Participatory Approaches: This refers to the involvement of relevant stakeholders, particularly farmers and other community members, in the development and implementation of policies and regulations.
Certification and Labeling Schemes: These schemes provide assurance to consumers that agricultural products were produced using sustainable and socially responsible practices, which is particularly relevant for agroforestry.
Incentives and Disincentives: These are measures that encourage or discourage certain behaviors or practices, and can be used to promote sustainable agroforestry practices.
Research and Development: This refers to the scientific study of agroforestry practices to identify best practices, new technologies, and innovations.
Institutional Arrangements for Agroforestry: This refers to the structures and organizations that support agroforestry, including policies, regulations, and institutions at the national and local levels.
Extension and Education: These are programs that provide farmers and other stakeholders with information and skills related to agroforestry practices, to promote adoption and implementation of those practices.
National Agroforestry Policy: It is a comprehensive policy that outlines the vision, objectives, strategies, and guidelines for promoting agroforestry practices at the national level.
Regional Agroforestry Policy: It is a policy designed to promote agroforestry practices within a specific jurisdiction or region, usually at the state or provincial level.
Institutional Policies: Institutional policies are designed to integrate agroforestry practices into the policies and practices of specific organizations, including public agencies, private companies, and nonprofit organizations.
Land Use Policies: These policies govern the use of land for agroforestry practices, including the allocation of land for tree planting, agroforestry systems, and agroforestry parklands.
Environmental Policies: These policies aim to promote and ensure sustainable and environmentally sound agroforestry practices, including the protection of biodiversity, conservation of ecosystem services, and mitigation of climate change impacts.
Agricultural Development Policies: Agricultural development policies focus on improving agricultural productivity, farm income, food security, and rural livelihoods through supporting the integration of agroforestry in farming systems.
Market and Trade Policies: Market and trade policies aim to create a conducive environment for agroforestry commodity markets, including creating price incentives, improving access to markets, and ensuring fair trade rules for smallholders engaged in agroforestry.
Research and Development Policies: These policies support research and development aimed at improving agroforestry technologies, practices, and knowledge.
Finance Policies: These policies provide support for agroforestry financing, including financing agroforestry value chains, agroforestry insurance, and agroforestry investment funds.
Extension and Advisory Services Policies: Extension and advisory services policies provide support for agroforestry extension services, including farmer training, knowledge sharing, and outreach programs.
"This intentional combination of agriculture and forestry has multiple benefits, such as greatly enhanced yields from staple food crops, enhanced farmer livelihoods from income generation, increased biodiversity, improved soil structure and health, reduced erosion, and carbon sequestration."
"Trees in agroforestry systems can also produce wood, fruits, nuts, and other useful products with economic and practical value."
"Agroforestry practices are especially prevalent in the tropics, especially in subsistence smallholdings areas with particular importance in sub-Saharan Africa."
"However, due to its multiple benefits, for instance in nutrient cycle benefits and the potential for mitigating droughts, it has been adopted in the USA and Europe."
"Agroforestry shares principles with intercropping but can also involve much more complex multi-strata agroforests containing hundreds of species."
"Agroforestry can also utilize nitrogen-fixing plants such as legumes to restore soil nitrogen fertility."
"Enhanced farmer livelihoods from income generation"
"Increased biodiversity"
"Reduced erosion and carbon sequestration"
"Improved soil structure and health"
"Particular importance in sub-Saharan Africa"
"Enhanced farmer livelihoods from income generation"
"Greatly enhanced yields from staple food crops"
"Trees in agroforestry systems can also produce wood, fruits, nuts, and other useful products with economic and practical value."
"The potential for mitigating droughts"
"Reduced erosion"
"Reduced erosion and carbon sequestration"
"Particular importance in subsistence smallholdings areas"
"Agroforestry shares principles with intercropping but can also involve much more complex multi-strata agroforests containing hundreds of species."