Evergreen Agriculture: Agroforestry for Food Security and Climate Change Resilience

Abstract

This paper examines the role of agroforestry in food security and climate change resilience as a sustainable evergreen agriculture. Agroforestry technologies are ensuring food security and are lifting many out of poverty and mitigating declining agricultural productivity and natural resources. Remarkable examples are: fertilizer trees that when integrated with inorganic fertilizers can double or triple crops yields in degraded lands, fodder trees that can be used in smallholder zero-grazing systems in ways that supplement or substitute commercial feeds,  improved varieties of temperate and tropical fruits that can be used to supplement household incomes and nutrition, medicinal trees that are utilized on farm and conserved insitu, and fast-growing timber and fuel wood trees that can be grown in various niches within the farm and in commercial woodlots and plantations. The survey showed that about 88% of the respondents were attained food security through local purchasing from local market ranging from a month to six months depending on households. Agroforestry helped the households to attain food security as source of cash for all assessed households and as a source of food for 72% of the assessed households. Agricultural lands are believed to be a major potential sink and could absorb large quantities of C if trees are reintroduced to these systems and judiciously managed together with crops and/or animals. Thus, the importance of agroforestry as a land-use system is receiving wider recognition not only in terms of agricultural sustainability but also in issues related to climate change. C storage data in some tropical agroforestry systems and to discuss the role they can play in reducing the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. The C sequestration potential of agroforestry systems is estimated between 12 and 228Mgha?1 with a median value of 95Mgha?1. Agroforestry interventions, because of their ability to provide economic and environmental benefits, are considered to be the best measures in making communities adapt and become resilient to the impacts of climate change. The important elements of agroforestry systems that can play a significant role in the adaptation to climate change include changes in the microclimate, protection through provision of permanent cover, opportunities for diversification of the agricultural systems, improving efficiency of use of soil, water and climatic resources, contribution to soil fertility improvement, reducing carbon emissions and increasing sequestration, and promoting gender equity.

Key words: agroforestry, food security, climate change, carbon sequestration, resilience, productivity