Agroforestry is a recently coined term derived from agriculture and forestry. It describes practices developed and employed by farmers over many centuries to cultivate trees on farmland in different combinations with crops and livestock. From the pure agricultural perspective, agroforestry is about recognizing and promoting trees on farm; from the strict forestry perspective, it is about recognition and rights for the tree-based systems and livelihoods that farmers/agroforesters have created and can expand with appropriate support. Whilst agroforestry is an amalgam of agriculture and forestry, rather than treating these as separate land uses, institutions, policy domains and fields of science we integrate them in a landscape approach. Most importantly though, apart from bio-geophysical perspectives, agroforestry is often an entry point to progress social, economic, farmer welfare, market, environmental stewardship and political goals.
ICRAF, Agroforestry Guidance Tool.
