Agroforestry Offers Climate and Sustainability Benefits
Published: November 28, 2016
Agroforestry has a key role to play in helping the world adopt sustainable agriculture and contrast climate change, according to a high-level conference hosted by FAO today.
“An efficient land-use approach where trees can be managed together with crops and animal production systems” is an essential component of the “new paradigm shift for sustainable agriculture,” said Director-General José Graziano da Silva said in a conference-opening statement delivered by Deputy Director-General Helena Semedo.
Agroforestry, an approach between forest and open-field farming, simultaneously provides an array of social, economic and environmental benefits ranging from nutritious food and renewable energy to clean water and enhanced biodiversity.
“We need better coordination of farm and non-farm natural resource management,” Graziano da Silva said.
Agroforestry’s mixed land-use approach makes it a tailor-made example of how the agricultural sector can contribute to the global effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions.