The challenge of HIV/AIDS: Where does agroforestry fit in? - World ...

88World Agroforestry into the Futurenational partners from across Asia and Africain studies of the effects of land tenureon tree management at the farm and communityscales (Otsuka and Place 2001;Suyanto et al. 2001). Several importantresults have emerged from these and othersimilar recent studies. Firstly, most customaryland rights systems provide sufficienttenure security to encourage deliberatetree management in at least some land useniches (although some state-imposed tenuresystems have actively discouraged treemanagement or created de facto open accesssituations that encourage overuse andunder-investment in long-term tree management).Secondly, land tenure security,tree planting and management of naturalvegetation are interdependent in manycustomary societies in Asia and Africa.Because both clearance of natural vegetationand tree planting are markers of landimprovement, it is possible to observe bothreduced and increased tree cover as landrights become more individualized (Placeand Otsuka 2002; Suyanto et al. 2001).Unruh (2002), for example, describes theimportance of cashew trees for markingland claims in post-conflict Mozambique.Thirdly, many African and Asian societiesand national governments have propertyrights systems biased against womenplanting and managing long-term agroforestryinvestments such as timber trees andwoodlots (e.g. Fortmann 1998). Even insuch systems, however, women are oftenable to benefit directly from short-termagroforestry investments such as improvedfallows (Gladwin et al. 2002), processingand marketing interventions that add valueto agroforestry products and intra-familyallocation mechanisms that distribute thebenefits and costs of longer-term investments.Agroforestry interventions targetedto particular niches of land controlled bywomen, such as home gardens, may beadopted in the short term, but in the longterm may encourage men to try to wrestcontrol of such lands (Schroeder 1999).Property rights to land and trees have alarge impact on farm tree managementin the Lampung province of Sumatra, Indonesia.Suyanto et al. (2005) found thatareas designated as protected forests hadmore frequent and devastating fires duringthe Suharto era than in the years since1998, when the regime fell, implying thatthere now is less deliberate use of fire asa weapon to claim property rights. Fayand Michon (2003) describe part of thepolitical motives and ideology underlyinggovernment expropriation of large areas ofland previously used by individual familiesand governed by indigenous ethnicgroups. Fortunately, the greater politicalfreedom (‘reformasi’) and decentralizationthat have developed since the fall of theSuharto regime have created opportunitiesfor enhancing farmers’ tenure security andrevitalizing customary institutions. ICRAF/AMAN/FPP (2003) describe the outcomesof these processes for the disenfranchisementand loss of land rights for millions ofindigenous Indonesian people. Scientistsfrom the Centre have actively contributedto the restoration of indigenous rights in Indonesia(see Box 1). In northern Thailand,Centre scientists and collaborators (e.g.Care–Thailand) are increasing recognitionof the property rights of indigenous communitiesby helping upland tribal groupsto develop accurate maps of their villagedomains. This active engagement in policyprocesses as a facilitator, supplier of empiricalevidence and supporter of indigenouspractitioners of agroforestry is a hallmark ofthe Centre’s approach to agroforestry policy(van Noordwijk et al. 2001).Box 1. Promoting indigenous rightsin IndonesiaScientists from the World AgroforestryCentre have actively contributed tothe restoration of indigenous rights inIndonesia. Our research and engagementwith policy processes in the mid/late-1990s contributed to the first communityforest law in Indonesia: a historicdecree by the Indonesian Minister ofForestry that recognized and protectedthe rights of the Krui community to collectiverights to damar agroforests. Wehave also promoted the subsequent recognitionof the right of the Governmentto designate a forest for such specialpurposes and facilitated dialogue amongindigenous groups. The direct effect wasthat 15 000 households in the Krui areawere granted more secure rights to over35 000 hectares of agroforest land; theindirect effect was that it became easierfor indigenous communities throughoutIndonesia to register rights to agroforestlands.Source: ASB 2001Forest classification andgovernanceClassification of forestland is a relatedaspect of environmental governance.Throughout the developing world, largetracts of land have been declared as stateforests. There are two key components ofthis designation: state and forest. Both haveimplications for farmer incentives to plantand manage trees. Centre research in thisarea is motivated by the general question:how can forest policies be reformed to