Agroforestry I: Principles and Practices

Agroforestry – the practice of growing trees and crops in interacting combinations – is recognized the world over as an integrated approach to sustainable land-use. Agroforestry systems, being multifunctional, facilitate not only the production of food and wood products but also provide a variety of ecosystem services such as climate-change mitigation, biodiversity conservation, and soil quality improvement. This course teaches a broad overview of the most current research and best practices in global agroforestry.

• Introduction: A Synthesis of Scientific Developments in Agroforestry
• Section 1 presents an overview of the history of scientific developments in agroforestry.
• Definitions, Concepts, Classification and Global Distribution
• Section 2 investigates how we define and categorize agroforestry methods
• Agroforestry Systems in the Tropics and Subtropics
• Section 3 is an exploration of agroforestry topics for the tropics and subtropics
• Agroforestry Systems in the Temperate Zones
• Section 4 is an exploration of agroforestry topics for the temperate zones
• Agroforestry (Tree) Species and Their Productivity
• Agroforestry tree species and their improvement, uses and products.
• Soil Management and Agroforestry
• Proper soil management based on understanding the nature and property of soils is critical to the success of any land-use system.
• Climate Change, Carbon Sequestration and Agroforestry Systems
• The role of agroforestry systems in climate change mitigation.
• Ecosystem Services of Agroforestry
• A review of the many additional ecosystem services potentially provided by agroforestry systems.
• Food Security, Sustainable Development Goals and Agroforestry
• Agroforestry's roles in sustainable development and global food security efforts.