Our research

Agroforestry for livelihood and environmental benefits

Tree-based options provide perennial solutions to the perennial problems facing most third world countries.

Agroforestry is uniquely suited to address both the need for improved food security and increased resources for energy, as well as the need to sustainably manage agricultural landscapes for the critical ecosystem services they provide.

The research of the World Agroforestry Centre works towards more productive, diversified, integrated and intensified trees and agroforestry systems that provide livelihood and environmental benefits, including:

• enriching the asset base of poor households through farm-grown trees

• maximizing the productivity of agroforestry systems and the complementary benefits of trees to the productivity of crops and livestock

• improving the income of poor households by better linking them to markets

• expanding the multifunctionality of agricultural landscapes by balancing increased productivity with the sustainable management of the natural resource base

• maintaining or enhancing the supply of ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes, particularly regarding water, soil health, carbon sequestration and biodiversity.

We conduct research in six ecoregions: across sub-Saharan Africa (eastern, southern, western and central) in South and Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Our programs are driven by the specific needs and opportunities in each region. Much of our research expenditure is allocated to Africa, where persistent poverty and environmental degradation are particularly acute.