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

30World Agroforestry into the Future(Cheyns 2001). And there is growing worldwidedemand for fair trade and sustainableproduction, which bring new requirementsto producers. A good example is the recentcreation of the RSPO – the Roundtable forSustainable Palm Oil (http://www.sustainable-palmoil.org)– that gathered togethermany stakeholders from the sector. Somecommodities are obviously more advancedthan others: coffee quality, for example, hasmore consumer recognition while few knowabout different types of rubber.However, promotion of the terroir conceptand other certification processes often facesopposition from downstream industrial sectorswhere the feeling is that end-productquality depends exclusively on their knowhow.They do not accept the idea that thelocation, crop variety and technical skills ofthe farmer can play a role in the quality offeredto consumers. At the moment farmersare not organized, end-consumers know virtuallynothing about the commodity chainsinvolved (except perhaps for coffee), andit remains to be seen if the costs of variouscertification processes can be justified byprice improvements.The way forwardsAlthough perennial tree crops are only partof the economic tapestry of national andlocal development, they possess uniquecharacteristics and it is worth paying attentionto how they can better contribute.This section suggests policy options andfinancial and technological actions thatwill ensure that tree crop systems play anincreasing role in sustainable development.Political and financial mechanismsfor sustainabilityThere are three essential aspects to improvingthe tree crop sector: land tenure regulations,taxes and the funding of activities.Firstly, it is important for the sustainabilityof tree crop-based farming systems that therelationship between land tenure and perennialtree crop development be considered.This relationship is not straightforward: localconditions are diverse and complex andsimple models cannot be extrapolated. Butpublic authorities need to be aware of howformal and informal tenure arrangementsplay a role in the tree-crop sector.Secondly, as with many goods, the tax rateapplied to tree crops destined for export isa decisive element in the sustainability ofthe production chain. A satisfactory balancemust be found between a low rate thatencourages commodity chain vitality and ahigher rate to meet the State’s requirements.As perennial crops are often one of its mostvisible and lucrative resources, the State hastended to over-tax in the past.Finally, farmers’ access to financial resourcesrelies on two things: production earningsand access to credit. As discussed earlier,wide variation in product prices creates incomeinstability; itself a factor in productioninsecurity. Several options have been developedto help including one by the WorldBank, which has taken the initiative to setup an international task force to examinethe feasibility of commodity price risk management.This involves offering producersrisk-management instruments, implementedby local transmission mechanisms, cooperatives,agricultural banks or exporters. Thefirst step has to be to strengthen the financialinstitutions in many countries otherwisethese funds will be wasted.Access to credit is often difficult for poorfarmers. In order to facilitate such access,land tenure regulations could be changed togive perennial tree crops a guarantee valueto help secure a loan. However, this mightalso lead to a rise in land speculation andland being appropriated by the rich, increasingrural landlessness. Hence a holistic andforward-thinking strategy that includes attractingmedium-scale industrialization oftree crop industries has to be envisaged.Overall what is needed is a clear demonstrationof how tree crops contributeto food security and poverty reduction atboth household and national levels. Theproblem is that there persists a simplisticnotion that food security is mainly to dowith household food production; in fact itdepends upon the ensemble of strategiesthat people use to get food and allocatetheir land and labour (for food and also foreducation). There is evidence that tree cropincome, coming regularly throughout theyear, contributes greatly to the formationand maintenance of social capital, goingtowards school fees, house building andsocial stability (e.g. marriage payments andhealth costs; Russell and Tchamou 2001).Social capital creates a safety net that bufferscommunities against risk.Tree crops and other plants, such as thosewith medicinal value, intercropped inplantations are a source of income and nutrition.These crops may provide jobs for arural labour force that is desperately underemployed.The addition of small enterprisessuch as tree nurseries and primary processingof tree products adds stability to fragilerural economies. In some cases the localvalue of intercrops can exceed the value ofthe traditional tree crop (Gockowski andDrury 1999).Organization of producersWith small farms and limited financialresources, isolated smallholders hold nomore sway over product prices or commoditychain balances than they do overthe agricultural policies of their countries,especially in a context of globalization.