"Agroforestry refers to any of a broad range of land use practices where pasture or crops are integrated with trees and shrubs."
Integrating trees with crops and livestock to create diverse, sustainable, and resilient farming systems.
Agroforestry Systems: An overview of the different types of agroforestry systems, including alley cropping, silvopasture, and forest farming.
Soil Science: Understanding soil composition, processes, and nutrient management.
Plant Ecology: Knowing how plants compete for resources and their interactions with the environment.
Climate Science: Understanding the weather patterns, rainfall and temperature variations, and their impacts on agroforestry systems.
Tree Biology: Understanding the growth, development, and physiology of trees.
Water Management: Understanding various principles and techniques of water management such as rainwater harvesting, drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation.
Livestock Integration: Integrating livestock into agroforestry systems, including herd management and optimization of grazing lands.
Crop Selection: Deciding which crops to grow based on soil type, climate, and market demands.
Marketing and Economics: Understanding markets and demand for agroforestry products, and creating a business plan.
Pest Management: Managing pests and diseases through natural and chemical solutions.
Harvest and Post-Harvest Techniques: Understanding the best methods of harvesting, processing and preserving of agroforestry products.
Farm Design and Planning: Deciding the layout, spacing, and planning of the agroforestry system.
Sustainable Agriculture: Understanding the principles of sustainable agriculture and incorporating them into agroforestry practices.
Forestry Management: Incorporating forestry management into agroforestry systems, including forest inventory, regeneration, and thinning.
Agro-ecology: Understanding the complexity of agro-ecosystems and how to create resilient and productive systems.
Crop Diversification: Incorporating a variety of crops into the system to promote biodiversity and food security.
Agroforestry Policy and Legislation: Understanding the laws and policies that impact agroforestry practices, including land management and conservation.
Agroforestry Education and Research: Learning the skills and methods of researching and educating other people about agroforestry.
Alley Cropping: Involves planting rows of crops between lines of trees or shrubs. The trees provide shade and protect the crops from wind damage, while the crops supply food for the farmer and livestock.
Silvopasture: Combines trees, forage crops, and grazing animals on the same land. The trees can provide shade and shelter for the animals, while the animals can help manage the vegetation.
Forest Gardening: Involves growing a diverse range of food and non-food crops in a garden-like system that mimics the structure and function of a forest ecosystem. It can be used to grow food, medicine, fuel, and other products.
Multistrata Agroforestry: Involves growing many crops of different heights and canopies in the same area, creating a layered system that maximizes sunlight use and minimizes competition between crops.
Taungya: A traditional system in which farmers plant crops on forestland, which is then cleared to make way for timber trees. The crops are harvested before the trees, and the farmer benefits from both crops and timber.
Shade-grown Coffee: Grown under a canopy of trees, which provide shade, protect against wind and flooding, and suppress weeds, pests, and diseases.
Home Gardens: A diverse and integrated system of trees, shrubs, herbs, and vegetables that require low inputs, provide food year-round, and improve soil health.
Hedgerows: A linear system of trees or shrubs that provide benefits such as erosion control, pollinator habitat, and wildlife corridors.
Fruit Tree Systems: A combination of fruit trees, intercrops, and livestock that can provide food, fodder, and other products while also conserving soil, water, and biodiversity.
Parklands: Involves integrating trees with livestock, crops, and other land uses to create a diverse and productive landscape. Parklands can help improve soil fertility, water management, and biodiversity.
"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."