Trees and farming
The latest issue of Farming Matters provides an in-depth understanding of the overall advantages that trees bring and looks at the policy issues that influence the adoption of agroforestry.
While the size of the world’s forests is declining, the number of trees on farms is increasing substantially. This reflects the many benefits they bring – to farmers, to their farms and to the ecosystems these are in. Yet there are several issues that need to be considered in order to sustain this growth, among which we have governance, policies and rights.
Farming Matters | 27.2 | June 2011
Featured articles
The TREES experience in São PauloThe Brazilian projects of Trees for the Future (TREES) try to bring trees back into production systems. By so doing they aim to increase incomes and yields, improve nutrition through the consumption of tree products and restore degraded lands through the introduction of soil conservation measures. Their experience has shown the many benefits of working with groups of farmers. Read the article |
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“Where there are no trees...”ROPPA, the West African Network of Peasant and Farmer Organisations, facilitates the exchange of information between twelve West African countries. Its president, Djibo Bagna, talked with us about the role played by agroforesty practices in the region, the reasons why farmers find this approach useful for cultivating their land, and the chance of scaling up these practices. Read the article |
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A long term perspective: The Wanakaset conceptWanakaset is an alternative farming concept that maximises efficient use of natural resources. Developed in Thailand, it aims to make farmers self-sufficient by mimicking natural ecosystem processes. The article explores the important role that trees play within this sytem and the advantages they bring today and in the future. Read more |
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Payments or rewards?The growing extension of cultivated areas in Africa is one of the major cause of deforestation in the continent. The World Agroforestry Centre is working to develop integrated and intensified agroforestry systems in order to reduce this negative trend. The crucial question concerns the benefits that farmers can get from the implementation of these approaches. Is money the only rewards that they are looking for? Read more |
Table of contents:
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3 - 3written by Roshan MehtaTea is one of the agricultural products for which Nepal is famous. It is mostly grown in the eastern part of the country and is exported all over the world.
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5 - 5written by Edith van WalsumAgroforestry is one of mankind’s best hopes to create a climate-smart agriculture, increase food security, alleviate rural poverty and achieve truly sustainable development”, write Dennis Garrity and Paul Stapleton in the theme overview for this issue.
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8 - 9written by Dennis P. Garrity , Paul StapletonThe size of the world’s forests is declining every year and yet, at the same time, the number of trees on farms is increasing. Over a billion hectares of agricultural land, almost half of the world’s farmland, have more than 10 percent of their area occupied by trees. Over 160 million hectares have more than 50 percent tree cover. Agroforestry, mixing trees with agriculture, is a crucial bridge between forestry and agriculture. Growing trees on farms can provide farmers with food, income, fodder and medicines, as well providing environmental benefits such as enriching the soil, retaining water, fixing carbon and generating biomass.
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10 - 13written by Jeff FollettWe enjoy our individual interactions with farmers and often develop personal relationships with each one of them as they proceed through our training programmes, but we have found that we are more successful when we work with groups of people who want to develop agroforestry projects. It is more efficient to work with groups. It also maximises our use of limited funds by ensuring that workshops and field visits reach the largest number of people possible.
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14 - 16written by Frank van SchoubroeckInterview > Djibo Bagna - ROPPA, the West African Network of Peasant and Farmer Organisations, was founded in 2000 as a representative body that would help “make the voices of family farmers heard”. Having been involved with farmer organisations for decades, Djibo Bagna serves now as its President.
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17 - 17written by Francisco Roberto CaporalOpinion: There is little to celebrate during this International Year of Forests, says Francisco Caporal
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18 - 20written by Sudhirendar SharmaAiming to increase the area covered by forests, programmes like the Green India Mission are looking for the necessary funds and resources to help them reach the objective of reforesting millions of hectares. Yet money is not the only difficulty. For who owns these new forests? And who benefits from them? Setting up co-operative forests has many advantages, but they can suffer from an incomplete legal framework.
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21 - 21Land is a scarce resource. Large-scale land acquisitions by governments and companies – also known as "land grabs" – allow them to secure food supplies or simply make a profit.
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22 - 23written by Sian LewisMaking markets work for the poor is all about connecting small-scale farmers to niche export markets. Or is it? Participants at the provocation seminar “Making markets work for the poor: Contents and discontents”, held in Paris on 30 March, called on development agencies to turn their eyes away from export markets and take a closer look at local ones.
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24 - 26written by Godfrey MwalomaMore and more land in Africa is being cultivated, reducing the area covered by forests, the existing biodiversity, and affecting the water supplies of nearby cities. Could farmers produce the same services as forests do – at least partly? The World Agroforestry Centre is working to develop arrangements between farmers and private parties in a bid to have farmland supply clean water and carbon sinks. But what should farmers get in return? Money is not the only reward they are looking for.
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27 - 27written by Nicola Piras“Agriculture is sustainable if it can attract future generations of young farmers”. These were the words that Edith van Walsum, ILEIA’s director, used to open the editorial in our previous issue. A similar idea lies behind The Green Wave, an initiative of the Convention on Biological Diversity. This is an international campaign involving schools in more than 70 countries, the aim of which is to raise awareness around the importance of biodiversity among children and youth.
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28 - 29written by Torsten MandalSmall, fast-growing nitrogen-fixing trees like Calliandra calothyrsus are becoming increasingly popular in the eastern and central African highlands for various reasons: they can provide a yearround supply of protein-rich feed, improve soil and water conservation, and provide mulch, fuel, stalks, poles, nectar and fences. Yet if farmers follow many of the guidelines that are available, they find it difficult to establish enough of them on their farms without external support. Focusing on sustainable and affordable methods, research is providing effective alternatives.
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30 - 31
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32 - 33Trees bring many benefits, even if these are not immediately visible and not all farmers recognise it. Here are some examples from different parts of the world about how trees help increase production and incomes.
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34 - 36written by Michael B. CommonsWanakaset, a word which translates directly as “forest agriculture”, is both the name of a farm and of a network of farms and farmers in Thailand. But it also refers to a farming concept which goes beyond agricultural production to look at self-sufficiency and the relationship between man and his natural environment and resources.
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37 - 37written by Dov PasternakOpinion: Dov Pasternak argues for more tree cover in the semi-arid tropics.
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38 - 39Whether as a result of rising food prices, or simply because the world’s population is expected to continue growing, many projects and programmes are specifically focusing on food security and on the need to produce more food. Yet quantities are not all that matter. Are we paying enough attention to the quality of the food being produced? Our partners describe how this issue is being addressed in Peru, India and China.
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