Delivering on the promise of agroforestry

摘要

Agroforestry-the traditional practice of growing trees on farmsfor the benefit of the farm family and for the environment-wasbrought from the realm of indigenous knowledge into the forefront ofagricultural research less than two decades ago. It was promotedwidely as a sustainability-enhancing practice that combines the bestattributes of forestry and agriculture. Based on principles ofnatural resource management and process-oriented research,agroforestry is now recognized as a applied science, that isinstrumental in assuring food security, reducing poverty andenhancing ecosystem resilience at the scale of thousands ofsmallholder farmers in the tropics.