Agroforestry System to Save Olive in Italy

Nairobi – 24 August. Adolfo was prompt this morning. Informed that late participants wouldn’t be allowed entrance to the WCA2009 Conference Hall at the UN Compound once President Kibaki is on stage, he had to skip his breakfast to catch the conference bus to depart at 7 a.m. from his downtown hotel.

Arriving in Nairobi on KLM a day before, Adolfo Rosati, an Italian scientist working for the CRA (the government independent council for agricultural research) attended the WCA2009 to find more information about the potential of agroforestry system for the current issue Italy is facing.

“In Italy, we have over a million hectares of olive plantation grown traditionally. The problem is olive becomes economical only if the European funds it. After 2013, they would probably stop the funding risking over a million hectares of olive to become abandoned. If we can turn part of this into agroforestry system, combining olive with pasture or other crops underneath it, then we can make it economical.”

Adolfo said keeping olive in the landscape is historically important to the Italian people as olive is very much part of the history of their landscape. He expected to meet other scientists or organizations to work together on further study of olive agroforestry system.