Advancing Agroforestry on the Policy Agenda : A Guide for Decision-makers (Agroforestry Working Paper)

Agroforestry is a dynamic, ecologically based, natural resources management system that diversifies and sustains production for the increased social, economic and environmental benefit of land users at all levels (ICRAF) through the integration of trees in farms and the agricultural landscape.

At present it is still considered a peripheral area of agriculture and many farmers and other land users remain ignorant of its benefits. These guidelines are aimed at policymakers, advisers and others who wish to include agroforestry in the national agenda.

They aim to assist countries to develop policy, legal and institutional conditions that recognize the contribution of agroforestry to national development and facilitate its adoption.

Part I explains the benefits of agroforestry systems, the necessary conditions for their development, the barriers that have prevented their adoption so far, and the drivers, both contextual and internal, that make them possible.

Part II of the paper outlines 10 areas for policy action, which, if implemented correctly, will facilitate the development of national policies designed to promote the agroforestry concept and agroforestry practices at plot, farm and landscape level. Illustrated with case studies and examples of good practice from around the world, these guidelines are an invaluable addition to the agroforestry global agenda.