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

164World Agroforestry into the Futureavailable in few languages other than English.For local communities to really benefitfrom them, they need to be translated andadapted to fit local social, cultural and environmentalconditions. In some countries,there are no financial incentives to planttrees. It is important to build capacity atpolicy level to ensure opinion leaders understandand support agroforestry and treeplantingactivities and the links betweenagroforestry and livelihood improvement.Strategic partnershipsThe Centre’s partners include training andextension institutions, non-governmentalorganizations (NGOs) and governmentagencies working with farmers, nationalagricultural research institutions, farmersand farmer organizations, private sectoragro-food processors and private investors.The Centre should identify the differentroles played by these partners andtheir comparative advantages for variousactivities.Further strengthening ofeducational programmesGoalsAgroforestry should be accepted as a broaddiscipline and institutionalized by educationalsystems. This would result in strongercurricula, programmes and delivery ofresources, as well as a team approach toteaching across disciplines. Stronger linksbetween research, education and extensionare essential. Moreover, postgraduateresearch and theses contribute significantlyto research outputs.Strategic issuesAgroforestry should be marketed as amultidisciplinary field of study. An analysisof education policies, institutions andenvironment could identify strengths andweaknesses in current agroforestry teachingand learning. Experiential learning for bothstaff and students is one way forward. Currentefforts to improve curricula should beintensified and, possibly, linked to efforts tobuild programmes in eco-agriculture, biodiversityand environmental management.The greatest challenge is to train more educators.Many institutions still lack adequatehuman resource capacity in agroforestry.Collaboration and sharing (networking)among institutions would help to temporarilyalleviate the shortage, but long-terminvestment in training educators is an imperative.Institutions of learning also needto forge better links with farming communities.For a long time, educational institutionshave taken learning as an objective initself. There is a need for them to link learningto social and economic development oflocal communities.New approaches and opportunitiesThe Centre should form strategic allianceswith funders of graduate studies to increaseagroforestry thesis research. The emphasisshould be on integrated watershed management(multidisciplinary approaches)and participatory development of methodsand tools in agroforestry education.Greater use of information and communicationtechnology (ICT) to distributeteaching materials should be explored andprivate-sector participation should be encouraged.African leaders have expresseda commitment to enhance agriculture andthis is an opportunity to raise awarenessof the benefits of agroforestry, which willlead to its wider inclusion in educationalprogrammes.ConstraintsThe resources and facilities to support agroforestryeducation are generally weak. Insome countries, unfavourable policies andlack of recognition deter people from enteringcareers in agroforestry. National governmentsand institutions should thereforebe encouraged to commit more resourcesto support agroforestry education.Strategic partnershipsThere is a need to work with a broad rangeof partners – farmers, NGOs, industry,policy makers and international agencies,especially those working on tree products.There should be greater private-sectorinvolvement, for example through agroindustryand equipment manufacturers.Links should be cultivated with microfinanceinstitutions and entrepreneurs ineducation and educational technologies, aswell as twinning arrangements with developed-countryinstitutions.Improving national researchcapacityGoalsTo mainstream agroforestry and integratednatural resource management initiativesinto national agricultural research systems(NARS). With good research–education–developmentlinks and sound postgraduateprogrammes at local universities, agroforestryresearch outputs from local institutionswould have greater impact on agriculturaldevelopment.Strategic issuesCurrent research support strategy is to facilitatethe development of better agroforestryresearch programmes by national agriculturalresearch organizations (NAROs).This can happen if agroforestry is acceptedas a priority in solving real developmentproblems. However, agroforestry researchcan only be successful if the various sectors