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

86World Agroforestry into the FutureWhile few developing countries havespecific laws or policies on agroforestry,a range of environment and developmentpolicies and structures of administrationand governance affect the practice. Herewe follow the Leakey (1996) definition ofagroforestry as a “dynamic, ecologicallybased,natural resource management systemthat, through the integration of trees onfarms and in the landscape, diversifies andsustains production for increased social,economic and ecological benefits”. Thisdefinition has three direct implications forgovernance. First, agroforestry involves thedeliberate management of trees, includingtree planting and various intensities offarmer management of trees in multiplefunction landscapes. Second, it depictsagroforestry as a natural resource managementsystem that includes land use practicesand the institutions (including rules,regulations and norms) that shape thoseland use practices. Third, the definitionexplicitly recognizes agroforestry as a landusesystem practiced at the farm and landscapescales. Institutions and policies thatgovern land use and environmental managementat those scales will affect farmers’incentives to plant and manage trees.At the farm scale, the most important institutionalarrangement affecting agroforestryis property rights. Property rights to landand trees on farms shape farmers’ expectationsof whether and how they will beable to appropriate long-term benefits frominvesting in tree management and planting.Property rights are also important atthe landscape scale since property rightsregimes (state, common or open access)governing tree resources outside of individualfarms affect the use of those resourcesand the incentives for farmers to plant treeson farm. One of the key determinants ofproperty rights to trees outside of privatefarms is the system of forest classificationand governance. State systems of forestgovernance generally reflect a combinationof state control of valuable forest resourcesand concern for the public interest in theenvironmental services that they provide.As property rights and forest governancesystems have evolved over the last two decades,other governance arrangements havebecome important. The focus of biodiversityconservation has widened from lookingsolely at protected areas to including theirboundaries and the surrounding landscape.Agroforestry is recognized as having unfulfilledpotential to contribute to biodiversityconservation at the landscape scale. Environmentalservice reward mechanisms are beingexplored in some locations, with agroforestryoften seen as a desirable land use from theperspective of biodiversity conservation,carbon sequestration, renewable energy productionand reversal of land degradation. Thegrowing importance of global environmentalagreements is increasing motivation for someof these environmental service mechanisms.The widespread implementation and national‘domestication’ of global environmentalagreements provides a mix of opportunitiesfor and constraints to agroforestry.This chapter reviews evidence concerninglinks between agroforestry and the fivecomponents of environmental governancedescribed in the previous two paragraphs:i) property rights to land and trees; ii) landclassification; iii) biodiversity and forestconservation; iv) environmental servicereward mechanisms; and v) global environmentalgovernance. Table 1 summarizesinformation on the links between each ofthese components and agroforestry.The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)works with a range of partners to implementa three-pronged approach to addressthese policy challenges. Firstly, we seekto enhance understanding of the links betweenagroforestry, forestry, protected areamanagement and social objectives relatedto the environment. In some cases, the resultschallenge conventional wisdom andconventional approaches to environmentalmanagement. Widespread disseminationof key principles and empirical findings isachieved through scientific publicationsand engagement in local, national and internationalpolicy fora. Secondly, we seekto broaden understanding of how policiesand institutions affect the incentives offarmers to manage and plant trees in highprioritysituations. Commonalities and contraststend to emerge across research sites,implying that there are no universal policysolutions. Thirdly, in high-priority situationswe work with policy makers and policyshapers to promote reform or effective implementationof policies and regulationsthat have high impact on the effectivenessof agroforestry. The following sections summarizelinks to agroforestry, relevant researchfindings and policy impacts for thefive components described in Table 1.Property rights to land andtreesA large body of literature on the relationshipsbetween property rights and treemanagement has grown up during the25 years since the Centre was founded.While economic theory indicates straightforwardrelationships between tree plantingand land tenure security, the evidenceindicates complex interrelationships betweenmanagement of natural vegetation,tree planting, perceptions of land and treetenure security, gender relations and theoperations of customary and formal tenurearrangements. Uncovering the more complexrelations requires research approachesthat draw upon institutional economics,social and economic theories of innovation