Global future-proofing: why agroforestry needs widespread adoption soon

Agroforestry comprises land management practices that deliberately mix woody perennials (such as trees, shrubs, palms and bamboos) with crops and/or animals. This offers greater resilience in the face of risky monocultures failing from unpredictable weather events, fires, and pest and disease outbreaks.

If adopted widely and soon, agroforestry could provide global future-proofing against the interlinked climate, nature, food security and poverty crises. This faces two main challenges: sectoral splits between forest and farm authorities, leaving it overlooked by both; and gaps in transition financing to overcome key uptake barriers.

To drive agroforestry adoption, forest and farm producer organisations (FFPOs), whose members’ future depends on its implementation, need to take centre stage. Expanding FFPO agroforestry transition finance can efficiently spread agroforestry understanding, upskill management, cover upfront costs, and organise shared labour inputs, aggregation and marketing of diverse products.