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

OpeningixDr Swaminathan has been intimately connected with the World Agroforestry Centre from itsvery earliest moments, having been part of a small group of 10-or-so visionary minds that metat IDRC’s headquarters in Canada in late 1977. This group helped to develop agroforestryas a concept, and successfully played ‘midwife’ to the birth of the Centre. That meeting wasconvened by David Hopper, the first President of IDRC. Inspiration was provided by the lateJohn Bene’s well-known paper that first proposed the imperative of an international centrededicated to championing the science and practice of agroforestry 1 . Bene (1910–1986) servedas ICRAF’s first Board Chair (1977–1979), and was succeeded by Swaminathan. 2In a video-taped speech, Dr Swaminathan urged agroforesters to broaden their reach and paygreater attention to the vast coastal ecosystems. Agroforestry can open new pathways to utilizingcoastal areas at a time when freshwater supplies are dwindling worldwide. He declaredthat the gender dimension of agroforestry and its impact on women is crucial and must not beoverlooked. He noted that agroforestry systems should be designed to ensure that they reallymeet the needs and problems of the people, while also seeking to understand the rationalebehind local land management practices.Charting a course for the future, Swaminathan encouraged the Centre to pursue a new paradigmof partnerships that emphasize public goods over patents, especially public goods thatbenefit resource-poor farmers and farm families throughout the tropical world. In conclusion,he recounted, “Agroforestry has always inspired me. I am glad that ICRAF has grown into itspresent stature and taken an appropriate name – the World Agroforestry Centre. Livelihoodsecurity and ecological security are two sides of the same coin. By choosing an agroforestryspecialist for the World Food Prize for the first time, the connection between food, forestryand agroforestry has been clearly recognized.”The 25 th Anniversary Conference of the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) was officiallyopened by the Honourable Kipruto arap Kirwa, Kenya’s Minister for Agriculture. Notabledelegates, most of whom have played an important part in the history of the centre, spokeat the opening session. Also in attendance were distinguished guests, including: the UgandanHigh Commissioner to Kenya, His Excellency Matayo Kyaligonza; the Permanent Secretaryin Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture, Joseph Kinyua; David Kaimowitz, Director General of theCenter for International Forestry Research (CIFOR); Carlos Sere Director General of the InternationalLivestock Research Institute (ILRI); Roger Leakey, a former Director of Research at theCentre; and directors and scientists from many national research institutions in Africa, Asiaand Latin America.1Bene, J.G., H.W. Beall and A. Côté 1977. Trees, food and people: land management in the tropics.International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Ottawa, Canada.2For a fuller version of ICRAF’s early history, refer to the companion booklet for this volume: ICRAF 2003.The World Agroforestry Centre: Looking back at the first quarter century and ahead to the next. ICRAF,Nairobi, Kenya.