Agroforestry 101: Everything you need to know

Agroforestry is a land management system integrating trees, crops, and livestock to create sustainable ecosystems. It offers significant climate benefits through carbon sequestration and provides economic stability for small farmers by diversifying income and improving soil health. The guide details five primary systems—windbreaks, riparian buffers, alley cropping, silvopasture, and forest farming—and examines their roles in water retention, natural pest control, and biodiversity. Globally, countries like India and Nepal have implemented national policies to scale these practices, and various women-led and Indigenous initiatives are using agroforestry to enhance food sovereignty and social empowerment.

• Agroforestry can significantly sequester carbon, with the potential for the United States to remove approximately 156 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide annually and a global sequestration potential of 6 gigatons of carbon per year.
• There are five distinct agroforestry systems: windbreaks for erosion and temperature control; riparian buffers to protect water supplies and reduce flooding; alley cropping to improve soil fertility and yields; silvopasture to combine livestock with trees and reduce methane emissions from cows; and forest farming for cultivating crops under tree canopies.
• Agroforestry supports biodiversity and ecosystem health by providing habitats for pollinators—which 85% of the world's flowering plants depend on—and by reducing the need for chemical pesticides through natural pest control methods like plant diversity and reduced crop visibility.
• India was the first country to launch a National Agroforestry policy in 2014, investing approximately $33 million USD. This policy contributed to a 2% increase in forest and tree cover between 2015 and 2019, with trees grown outside forests meeting over 70% of the country's timber requirements.
• Specific regional projects demonstrate the socio-economic impact of agroforestry: Inga Alley Cropping in South America replaces slash-and-burn farming to maintain soil fertility; the Ulu Cooperative in Hawai'i creates local revenue through breadfruit; and the Grand African Savannah Green Up project aims to capture 20 billion tons of CO2 by 2050 across Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
• Agroforestry serves as a tool for social empowerment and food sovereignty, particularly for women and Indigenous groups. Examples include the Bribri women in Costa Rica practicing "fincas integrales" and women-led cooperatives in Rwanda, Nepal, India, and Indonesia.
• Urban food forests are being implemented in cities to address food deserts and security, with examples in Atlanta, Budapest, New York City, and Mexico City.

APA

Leonard, L. (2022). Agroforestry 101: Everything you need to know. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/agroforestry-101-everything-you-need-to-know/

Chicago

Leonard, Libby. Agroforestry 101: Everything you need to know. World Economic Forum, 2022. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/agroforestry-101-everything-you-need-to-know/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Leonard |first1=Libby |title=Agroforestry 101: Everything you need to know |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=8 December 2022 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/agroforestry-101-everything-you-need-to-know/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{leonard2022agroforestry, author = {Leonard, Libby}, title = {{Agroforestry 101: Everything you need to know}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2022}, month = dec, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/agroforestry-101-everything-you-need-to-know/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }