Where we are in the Philippines  Program Focus 
Our Partners 

The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) is an autonomous, non-profit international research organization established in 1978 in Nairobi, Kenya. It is a Future Harvest Centre receiving its principal funding from governments, private foundations and international organizations through the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

Our business is Agroforestry – the science and practice of integrating “working trees” on smallholder farms and in rural landscapes.
 
 ICRAF IN THE PHILIPPINES

Agroforestry has been promoted as an integral part of Philippine upland development for more than two decades. However, upland communities continue to face key issues.
  • Increasing population trend
  • Low productivity and profitability
  • Poor market conditions
  • Competition from large scale and corporate commercial agriculture
  • Ineffective implementation of good policies
  • Associated poverty conditions

Agroforestry is an effective and innovative means to reduce poverty, create food security, and improve the environment.

ICRAF combines excellence in scientific research and development (R&D) to address poverty, hunger and environmental needs through collaborative programs and partnerships in the Philippines. The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) is proud to be part of a multi-sector effort to promote Agroforestry in the Philippines, especially among swidden agriculturists (slash-and-burn farmers) and upland farmers.

As a knowledge-based institution, we support and enhance the capacity of farmers to become better agroforesters.

 
 WHERE WE ARE IN THE PHILIPPINES

Los Baños, Laguna (LUZON)
Focuses on strengthening R&D in the areas of global climate change and the roles of agroforestry systems and landscapes in generating environmental services, and advancing the understanding and capacity of local stakeholders to manage landscapes for greater environmental and socio-economic benefits. Links with national policy makers in promoting sustainable upland development.

Leyte and Bohol (Visayas/ Central Philippines)
Addresses the unique constraints of farming in shallow, calcareous soils, and typhoon-prone environments by blending indigenous and scientific knowledge.

Claveria, Misamis Oriental (Mindanao)
R&D revolves around conservation farming practices on sloping land and aims to provide simple, low cost farming technologies to upland farmers beset by rapid soil fertility depletion and low productivity.

Lantapan, Bukidnon (Mindanao)
Focuses on local natural resource management and agroforestry options for improved farmer income and protection of the natural resource base. Work also centers on the rapid dissemination of agroforestry technologies through the Landcare approach.
 
 PROGRAM FOCUS FOR SEA AND THE PHILIPPINES

As part of the Southeast Asian Regional Research Programme, the Philippine R&D program now focuses on four new themes:
  1. Agroforestry systems that help restore soil fertility and regenerate degraded lands.
  2. Market-driven tree cultivation systems that help alleviate the rural poor in the uplands and consequently improve their health and nutrition.
  3. Agroforestry systems that enhance environmental services such as watershed protection, biodiversity conservation, and carbon sequestration.
  4. Capacity building for agroforestry research and development.

ICRAF works on government policy reform as well as on enlarging farmers’ technical options in collaboration with NGOs, universities, regional and national research and development institutions, and national and local government agencies.

Current R&D work revolves around seven areas of concern:

  • Development and dissemination of practical conservation farming systems for sloping lands;
  • Diversifying tree species for agroforestry, and improving planting material quality and delivery pathways;
  • Natural resources management policies and strategies for the uplands;
  • Understanding tenure and ancestral domain issues;
  • Developing mechanisms for rewarding environmental services provided by the upland poor;
  • Developing viable Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM); and
  • Capacity building.

 
 WHAT IS AGROFORESTRY
"Agroforestry, in a broad sense of incorporating trees into agricultural landscapes can contribute to location specific solutions of poverty by increasing and stabilizing food production, by providing income security, and allowing asset building and securing environmental services in productive landscapes."
 
 OUR PARTNERS

ICRAF is proud to be part of a multi-sector effort to promote Agroforestry in the Philippines, especially among swidden agroculturists (slash-and-burn farmers) and upland farmers.

Our work is funded by a wide range of donors, including national and international aid and development agencies and international organizations such as Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional (AECI), Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), Conservation International(CI), the European Union (EU), the Government of New Zealand, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, (IFAD) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), among others.

 
 

WORLD AGROFORESTRY CENTRE :: SOUTH EAST ASIA
http://www.worldagroforestrycentre.org/sea