Climate change poses significant risks to agriculture, including droughts, flooding, and pests. The ability of farmers to continue living on their land depends on how well they can adapt to these risks. Agroforestry, which involves integrating trees and shrubs into agricultural landscapes, offers a promising strategy for climate adaptation at the farm level and enhanced resilience at the landscape level.
Benefits of Agroforestry
Agroforestry can reduce air pollution and help regulate atmospheric temperatures, creating a resilient microclimate for crops and livestock (Ellison et al., 2017). It also enhances water security by improving soil and groundwater infiltration (Bargues Tobella et al., 2014), thus protecting water catchments and watersheds.
Contributions to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Agroforestry contributes to several SDGs, including:
- SDG 2.4: By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, maintain ecosystems, strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, and improve land and soil quality.
- SDG 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning.
- SDG 15.3: By 2030, combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, and strive to achieve a land degradation-neutral world.
Enhancing Ecosystem Services
Agroforestry improves soil properties and water availability to plants, making it suitable for landscape restoration. Trees provide ecosystem services such as water regulation, climate buffering, soil fertility, erosion and flood control, and the provision of food, fodder, medicine, and wood (Verchot et al., 2007; Mbow et al., 2014). These services are crucial for resilience to climate change and reducing the vulnerability of local communities.
Improving Livelihoods
Agroforestry can enhance livelihoods in smallholder farming systems by diversifying income and cash crop systems (e.g., cocoa, coffee, nuts), increasing food security, and improving access to nutritious food. Trees on farms can also help farmers reduce the economic recovery time after natural disasters (Simelton et al., 2015).
Addressing Gender Inequality
Climate adaptation is particularly important for female farmers, who often have less access to resources compared to their male counterparts (Kiptot et al., 2014). Female farmers produce a significant portion of the food in many developing regions but generally do not have the same opportunities to improve their livelihoods (Agroforestry Network, 2018). Agroforestry can help reduce gender inequalities related to natural resource access and increase women’s control over the benefits of land management.
Agroforestry as a Mitigation Strategy
Agroforestry practices can reduce or remove significant amounts of greenhouse gases through increased carbon storage in biomass above-ground, below-ground, and in soil organic carbon (IPCC, 2019). Integrating agroforestry into cropping and livestock systems can significantly enhance carbon sequestration. Major agroforestry practices that sequester CO2 include home gardening, boundary planting, fruit orchards, riverine plantings, hedgerows, woodlots, and firewood lots. Although agroforestry stores more carbon than pastures and fields with annual crops, it stores less than forested areas (see Figure 1).
By integrating agroforestry into agricultural practices, we can create more resilient farming systems that are better equipped to handle the challenges posed by climate change.