Agroforestry Paradigms

Abstract

In the four decades of its existence2, agroforestry as a concept has been understood and defined in multiple ways, often referring to a specific system scale of interest3,4,5,6,7. Its potential contribution to ‘restoration’ and ’conservation’ alongside ‘productivity’ of land has been expressed in many ways, emphasizing soil conservation8, land degradation9, food security10, land use for integrated natural resource management11,12, or biodiversity conservation13. The range of studies include trees and their domestication14, tree–soil–crop interactions at plot level15, the interactions between land, labour, knowledge and risk at farm level16, human livelihoods at landscape scale7, dynamics of tree-cover change in space and time17, social-ecological systems at landscape scale12, the multiple value chains that start with tree, crop and livestock production in landscapes18, and the policy domains19 of forestry and agriculture in the context of sustainable development goals20, global change and multi-species agroecosystems21, the role of trees in agro-ecology22, responsible trade in globalizing markets23 and global climate change24. The inclusion of all these aspects under a single term may indicate a need for greater clarity on the different system scales involved and their connections. Figure 1.1 provides a four-level typology of what can be seen as nested paradigms: mutually compatible but distinct in concepts, methods and implications for practice and policy. The various definitions that have over time been given for agroforestry reflect these concepts25,26