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

4World Agroforestry into the Futurematerially to achieving these goals andaspirations. The vision drives a strategythat harnesses the best of global science.This chapter lays out that vision andstrategy, providing a framework for thesections and chapters that make up theremainder of this volume.Where agroforestry fits inTrees play a crucial role in almost all terrestrialecosystems. They provide a widerange of products and services to ruraland urban people. As natural vegetation iscleared for agriculture, trees are integratedinto productive landscapes – the practiceknown as agroforestry.Agroforestry is practised by millions offarmers, and has been a feature of agriculturefor millennia. It encompasses a widerange of working trees that are grown onfarms and in rural landscapes, and includesthe generation of science-based tree enterpriseopportunities that can be importantin the future. Among these are: fertilizertrees for land regeneration, soil healthand food security; fruit trees for nutritionand income; fodder trees that improvesmallholder livestock production; timberand fuelwood trees for shelter and energy;medicinal trees to combat disease, particularlywhere there is no pharmacy; and treesthat produce gums, resins or latex products(Garrity 2004). Many of these trees havemultiple uses, each providing a range ofbenefits.An estimated 1.2 billion rural people currentlypractise agroforestry on their farmsand in their communities, and dependupon its products (World Bank 2004).Their tree-based enterprises help ensurefood and nutritional security, increase theirincome and assets, and help solve theirland management problems. Trees play aparticularly pivotal role wherever peopledepend on fragile ecosystems for survivaland sustenance.During the past 30 years, agroforestryhas progressed from being a traditionalpractice with great potential to the pointwhere development experts agree thatit provides an important science-basedpathway for achieving important objectivesin natural resource management andpoverty alleviation. Despite its ubiquitoususe by smallholder farm families, there isinadequate awareness about the potentialof agroforestry to benefit millions ofhouseholds trapped in poverty. We need aglobal ‘agroforestry transformation’ to mobilizescience and resources to remove thesocio-economic, ecological and politicalconstraints to widespread application ofagroforestry innovations, and thereby helpattain the MDGs.Building on three decades of work withsmallholder farmers in Africa, Asia andLatin America, coupled with strategic allianceswith advanced laboratories, nationalresearch institutions, universities and nongovernmentalorganizations (NGOs) acrossthe globe, the World Agroforestry Centreand its partners are poised to foster such anagroforestry transformation.Aiming for an ‘agroforestrytransformation’The World Agroforestry Centre’s mission isto advance both the science and practiceof agroforestry to help realize this transformation.The target is a future in whichmillions of poor farming households haveaccess to a wide variety of adapted andproductive tree enterprises that improvelivelihoods in a holistic way (World AgroforestryCentre 2005). Underpinning this iscrucial scientific research that will ensurea stream of necessary technical, policy andinstitutional innovations. The Centre hasidentified seven major global challengesrelated to the MDGs to which we aim tocontribute. These challenges are:1. To help eradicate hunger throughpro-poor food production systemsin disadvantaged areas based onagroforestry methods of soil fertilityreplenishment and land regeneration.2. Reduce rural poverty through marketdriven,locally led tree cultivationsystems that generate income andbuild assets.3. Advance the health and nutrition of therural poor through agroforestry systems.4. Conserve biodiversity through integratedconservation-development solutionsbased on agroforestry technologies, innovativeinstitutions, and better policies.5. Protect watershed services throughagroforestry-based solutions that enablethe poor to be rewarded for their provisionof these services.6. Enable the rural poor to adapt to climatechange, and to benefit from emergingcarbon markets, through tree cultivation.7. Build human and institutional capacity inagroforestry research and development.Mission goalsTo address these seven global challenges,the Centre is pursuing four mission goals:Goal 1Enhance access by smallholders to highqualitytree germplasm and expandedmarket opportunities for smallholder treeproducts.Goal 2Advance understanding of the role oftrees in practical and productive land andfarm management and to foster integratedfarming systems based on appropriate