The World Agroforestry Centre and the United Nations Environment Programme co-hosted the 2nd World Congress of Agroforestry in Nairobi, Kenya from 23-28 August 2009. The Congress attracted close to 1200 researchers, educators, practitioners and policy makers from around the world, who came to share new research ideas and experiences, explore partnership opportunities and strengthen communities of practice.
The overall theme of the Congress was Agroforestry, the future of global land use. The sub-themes were Food Security and Livelihoods; Conservation and Rehabilitation of Natural Resources; and Policies and Institutions.
The Congress provided a unique opportunity to link science to policy, through symposia and a day of presentations and discussions relating to policy. We can no longer afford for scientists to work in isolation and publish in journals with the hope that the results will be used by someone to make a difference on the ground. We need to maximise every opportunity to bring together scientists and policy makers so that research is relevant to policy, and policy decisions are informed by science.
As the human population increases from the present six to nine billion by 2050, the question arises: How will the world continue to feed itself with 21st century economic models and management regimes? To answer this, we must turn our attention to agriculture. Reversing environmental degradation, and investing in ecological infrastructure such as forests, trees in agricultural landscapes, soils and water bodies, is central to the Green Economy solution. So too, is managing such assets and the food chain more efficiently. After all, these are the natural inputs and infrastructure that are fundamental to agriculture.
Agroforestry has a key role in addressing the challenges of food security, while conserving the natural resource base upon which agriculture depends. The science and practice of agroforestry will offer useful directions in solving the problem of how to feed a growing population while protecting the environment. For some time now, we have also witnessed the enormous opportunity to diversify livelihoods and incomes via the emerging carbon markets. This includes the renewable energy sector, but also the growing prospect of smallholder farmers earning an income by conserving forests, practicing conservation agriculture and increasing tree cover on their farms - which sequester carbon.
If nations reach an agreement on the issue of Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) during the Copenhagen climate change conference then agroforestry will grow in strength as an option for opening up the carbon markets to smallholders, in addition to its role in poverty alleviation and sustainable agricultural systems.