Agroforestry benefits Indian farmers and climate – GulfToday

Agroforestry benefits Indian farmers and climate – GulfToday

A new World Resources Institute (WRI) India paper explores how growing trees in agroforestry systems — a landscape restoration technique where farmers add trees to their land — and in and near cities can bring socio-economic and ecological benefits to people and the planet. The US Department of Agriculture defines agroforestry as the intentional integration of trees and shrubs into crop and animal farming systems to create environmental, economic, and social benefits. As World Agrofroestry emphasizes, it is the interaction of agriculture and trees, including the agricultural use of trees. This comprises trees on farms and in agricultural landscapes, farming in forests and along forest margins and tree-crop production, including cocoa, coffee, rubber and oil palm. The WRI Insight that highlights this study states, “The prosperity of rural communities and the health of ecosystems…depend on public policies and incentives that enable people to improve their livelihoods and sustainably invest in the land. But, in practice, aligning those two goals is easier said than done. Nowhere is that challenge more apparent than in India…The fragmentation and declining productivity of its terrestrial ecosystems, including 45% of its farmlands, are undermining the ability of dependent populations — like farmers, forest dwellers and tribal/Indigenous