Agroforestry: a productivity and resilience booster

2

Who are we?

• One of the 15 CGIAR research centres

• employing about 500 scientists and other staff.

• We generate knowledge about the diverse roles that trees play in agricultural landscapes

• We use this research to advance policies and practices that benefit the poor and the environment.

Our HQ & regional research nodes

Four Research Themes

1. Greening Tree Crop Landscapes – Improving Governance of Tree Crop Landscapes for Resilient

Green Economies, Climate...

2. Tree Productivity and Diversity

– Realising economic and ecological value from trees

3. Land Health Decisions

– Land Health Evaluation, Restoration and Investment Decisions

4. Resilient Livelihood Systems

– Resilient productivity and profitability of agricultural systems with trees

3

The agriculture challenge: “by 2050, we need to…

• Double world food production on ~ the same amount of land

• Make farms, fields and landscapes more resistant to extreme weather, while…

• … massively reducing GHG emissions.”

Agriculture: the silent giant

• Agriculture & forestry is only 4.8 % of global GDP

• But…

– 30% of global GHG emissions

– 50% of global employment

– 66% of global land use

– 75% of global freshwater use!

Trees outside forests, on farms

Human population density

Global population density

There’s a reason for that. Trees work.

Agroforestry is universal

Nicaragua: coffee, timber

Portugal: livestock, cork

Russia & central Asia: wheat, timber, silk…

Uganda: banana, coffee, vanilla

Liagre F., personal communication

France: wheat, timber

Sri Lanka: coconut, woodfuel

Arctic taiga: meat, timber, wood pellets

Zambia: maize, F. Albida

Why?

Nutrient cycling

Light intercepted :

Walnut : 0.73 Wheat : 0.66

0 10 20 30 40

020

40

60

80

100

Agriculture

Walnut Wheat Not used

Year 0 10 20 30 40

020

40

60

80

100

0 10 20 30 40Forestry

0 10 20 30 40

020

40

60

80

100

Agroforestry

0 10 20 30 40

% of sunlight used by photosynthesis

Water cycle buffering

Drought protection of trees Forestry: most roots close to surface

Agroforestry: most roots at depth

Root density: meters of rootlets /m3 of soil Root density: meters of rootlets /m3 of soil

Dep

th (cm

)

Dep

th (cm

)

Key concept: the Land Equivalency Ratio

“The additive maize/cowpea intercropping option after cotton or maize resulted in an average overall LER of 1.47, no maize grain penalty, and 1.38 t ha−1 more cowpea fodder production compared with sole maize.”

Willow alley cropping (Wakelyns, UK)

Wakelyns’ bottom line

160 Ha farm:

• Agroforestry: 62 Ha wheat

& walnut/wild cherry, 70-

90 trees Ha-1

• Forestry: 10 Ha walnut,

200 trees Ha-1

• Both planted 38 years ago

Poitou-Charente (France)

© agroof Liagre F., personal communication

Poitou-Charente (France)

Impact on income:

• Woody biomass identical in AF and forest plots (2014)

• Wheat yield ~ identical in AF and conventional plots for first 25 years - except in drought years, when AF yield higher than conventional yield

• AF plots converted to hay pastures now (alleys too close).

• Timber harvest starting from 2014 value ~ 2,000,000 €

Impact on soil:

• Soil organic carbon in AF plot doubled in 25 years.

• Less erosion, higher water percolation in AF plot

Zinder, Niger, 1980s

Sometimes, LERs much larger than 1

Zinder, Niger, today.

These 5 million hectares of new agroforest

parklands are yielding

500,000 tonnes

more than before. (Reij, 2012)

Oil Palm, Brazil

Oil palm + agroforestry experiment, Year 5, Tomé Açu, Pará, Brazil.

Photo: Debora Castellani

Conventional oil palm monocrop system

Andrew Miccolis, ICRAF Brazil

Agroforestry Oil Palm

• Annual crops first 3-4 years (cassava, maize, short-cycle legumes)

• Fruit trees : cacao, açaí (euterpe oleracea), banana

• Timber, fertilizer trees

• Intense management, slash-and-mulch

• 3 x 6 ha plots planted in early 2008

Densidade: UD1: 81 pl/hectare UD2 e Conv: 99 plantas/hectare

*

*

98%

125%

27%

14%

71%

149%

99%

49%

0,0

2,0

4,0

6,0

8,0

10,0

12,0

14,0

2011 2012 2013 2014

SAF Biodiverso UD1 SAF Biodiverso UD3

Pro

dução d

o D

endê (

ton/h

ecta

re)

PROJETO SAF DENDÊ Produtividade de Dendê

Resultado esperado

t/h

a (F

FB)

Year 4 (2011) Year 5 (2012) Year 6 (2013) Year 7 (2014)

Castellani et al 2014, Internal Report

Oil palm agroforestry Plot 1 (81 pl/ha)

)

Oil palm agroforestry Plot 2 (99 pl/ha)

Monocrop oil palm* (considering 99 pl/ha)

*Average yields at the same age in the same region according to Perez et al. 2007 Viabilidade de extracao de oleo de dende no Estado do Para. Vicosa, UFV. 2007. http://portal.mda.gov.br/portal/saf/arquivos/view/biodisel/18_-_Dende.pdf

Agroforestry vs. monocrop: knockout

Climate change

Ag and LULUCF emissions: huge

IPCC AR4 GHG emissions by sector in 2004 [Figure 1.3b].

5) Including agricultural waste burning and savannah burning (non-CO2). CO2 emissions and/or removals from agricultural soils are not estimated in this database. 6) Data include CO2 emissions from deforestation, CO2 emissions from decay (decomposition) of above-ground biomass that remains after logging and deforestation, and CO2 from peat fires and decay of drained peat soils. Chapter 9 reports emissions from deforestation only.

30.9%

Exported carbon

(t/ha/yr)

Carbon restituted to soil (t/ha/yr)

2

2

4

4

6

6

0

"Modern" agriculure (1 crop a year)

7 tC/ha/yr Intermediate cover crops (2-3 crops a year)

12.5 tC/ha/yr

Intermediate cover crops + agroforestry

16.5 tC/ha/yr

Food production

Soil restitution (fertility)

Biofuels

(fuelwood, anaerobic digestion…)

Storage in biomass (timber)

de construction…)

Carbon, fertility... and climate

European agroforestry’s potential amounts to 1/3rd of European Union emissions!

Huge mitigation potential

EU-28 total emissions (excl. LULUCF), mln T CO2-eq.

Source: European Environmental Agency

Aertsens et al. estimate: 1400 mln T/year

Adaptation

Natural catastrophes, trend

Munich Re (2011)

43

Agroforestry and wind resistance

Storm Klaus January 2009

Why? Deeper rootstock; thicker stems Forestry: most roots close to surface

Agroforestry: most roots at depth

Root density: meters of rootlets /m3 of soil Root density: meters of rootlets /m3 of soil

Dep

th (cm

)

Dep

th (cm

)

Environmental services

Source : INRA Restinclières, France

Agriculture Agroforestry Forestry

Average nitrate leaching K

g / h

a / Y

r

Reduced nitrogen leaching

Soil biota density under crops and agroforestry (Barrios et al 2012)

Nu

mb

er

per

m2

Natural resources

Inputs

Outputs

The present is win-lose

Natural resources

Inputs

Outputs

The future can be win-win.

… why does the world tend to this?

Natural

Forest

4.1 billion ha

Crop

Land

1.5 billion ha

Pasture &

Rangelands

3.4 billion ha

Wetlands

1.3 billion ha

Deserts

1.9 billion ha

Planted

forests

We organise like this… … but the world looks like this.

Our institutions can’t handle complexity very well.

Cultural issues: this looks like a healthy field but (probably) isn’t…

…this looks like a mess but (probably) is a healthy field.

Futurism! Modernity! Begone, old ways!

Tractors, not plants!

Investment in

conventional agriculture

research

Investment in agroecological research

Agrobusiness cashflow:

regular sale of inputs

Agroecology cashflow: some consultancy

It’s a cashflow issue

Which leads to

Agroecology marketing budget

Agroecology research budget

Agroecology Political influence

Agrobusiness marketing

Agrobusiness research Agrobusiness

influence

Diversification

Agroecological approaches

Ecological Farming

FMNR

Sustainable intensification

Climate Smart Agriculture

Organic Farming

Permaculture Holistic Grazing Management

Farming Gods Way

Conservation Agriculture

EverGreen Agriculture

Agroforestry

Restorative Agriculture

Intercropping

Fertiliser Tree Technology

IPM Push-Pull

Perenialisation

CAWT

Restoration Agriculture

Ecological agriculture

Forest Landscape Restoration

Biodynamic agriculture

Syntropic agriculture

3D Farming

Climate Resilient Zero Budget

Natural Farming

Green manure

53

Thank you!

p.worms@cgiar.org

Mobile +32 495 24 46 11

Land +32 2 351 6829

www.worldagroforestrycentre.org