About the World Agroforestry Centre
The World Agroforestry Centre is part of a global network of 15 Future Harvest centres, funded by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). We are an autonomous, not-for-profit research and development institution supported by over 50 different governments, private foundations, regional development banks, and the World Bank. The Centre was founded in 1978, initially as the International Council for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), to promote the exchange of information about agroforestry research in the tropics. The Council was created in response to a visionary study led by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), which actually coined the term ‘agroforestry’. In 1992, ICRAF joined the CGIAR, and in the years since then has transformed itself into a world-class international agricultural research centre. During the past few years, we transformed ourselves once again by adding an explicit development agenda to the Centre’s offerings. Our reason for doing so was to help ensure a broader adoption of agroforestry systems and practices, to be proactive in the
creation of innovative development partnerships that leverage and extend the impact of our research.
In order to more fully reflect our global reach, as well as our more balanced research and development agenda, we adopted a new brand name in 2002 – ‘World Agroforestry Centre.’ Our legal name – International Centre for Research in Agroforestry – remains unchanged, and so our acronym as a Future Harvest Centre – ICRAF – likewise remains the same.
Our Vision
ICRAF’s Vision of an Agroforestry Transformation in the developing world is a massive increase in the practice of working trees on working landscapes by smallholder rural households that help ensure security in food, nutrition, health, fodder, shelter and energy, income, and a regenerated environment.
We envision a future in which hundreds of millions of poor farming households have access to a portfolio of adapted and productive trees that can improve their livelihoods. To realise this future, ICRAF and its partners will ensure that these tree portfolios are identified and enhanced; and that the target households are reached through a scaling-up process. This is what we see as the Agroforestry Transformation.
Our Mission
To advance the science and practice of agroforestry to help realise an Agroforestry Transformation throughout the developing world. |
