Food & Climate
Will the agroforestry be one of sustainable solutions for food and nutritional security amid climate change?
As the world faces increasing pressures to feed a rapidly growing population, will innovative and sustainable agricultural practices like agroforestry be emerging as key solutions?
The social entrepreneur and Chairman of the Balipara Foundation in India, Ranjit Barthakur, answered the qustions.
Barthakur wrote an article, seen by “Food & Climate” platform, advised world to adopt agroforestry, as one of the best ways to achieve food security.
Agroforestry and Nutritional Security
In addition to increasing agricultural output, agroforestry contributes significantly to food and nutritional security by improving soil health, Ranjit Barthakur said, according to “Rural voice“.
The system naturally enhances nutrient cycling through litter decomposition, root exudation, and biological nitrogen fixation. By supporting crop growth even in times of drought, agroforestry helps stabilize food production, making it a reliable source of nutrition for communities. Integrating tree species with crops also diversifies diets and boosts nutritional value compared to monoculture practices.
Agroforestry brings ecological advantages to regions with challenging landscapes, like Northeast India.
It regulates ecosystem services, stabilizing crop microclimates by retaining soil moisture and reducing erosion – a vital benefit for the hilly terrains prone to heavy rainfall and floods. Moreover, agroforestry systems reportedly store up to 30% more carbon than traditional agricultural systems, making them crucial in combating climate change.
Economically, agroforestry provides a diversified income stream for smallholder farmers, who constitute about 80% of the agricultural workforce in Northeast India. By cultivating a mix of fruits, vegetables, timber, and fodder, farmers reduce their dependency on single-crop incomes, mitigating financial risks from crop failures. Agroforestry also addresses the energy needs of these communities, supplying sustainable fuelwood, which is especially valuable in remote areas reliant on wood for cooking.
Despite its advantages, agroforestry remains underutilized in the Northeast due to various challenges. A lack of awareness about its benefits, coupled with high initial costs and regional land tenure issues, limits adoption.
Additionally, climate-induced socio-economic challenges are exacerbating food insecurity for vulnerable communities.
While government programs like the National Agroforestry Policy and National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture encourage sustainable practices, tailored strategies and support systems are essential to make agroforestry accessible.
What is agroforestry?
Agroforestry is a collective term for land management systems where woody perennials (trees, shrubs, palms, bamboos, etc.) are deliberately integrated with agricultural crops and/or animals, in some form of spatial arrangement or temporal sequence. In agroforestry systems there are both ecological and socio-economic interactions between the different components, according to the Food and Agriculture organization “FAO”.
Agroforestry is a nature-based solution that can diversify and sustain production for increased social, economic, and environmental benefits. Agroforestry is particularly crucial to smallholder farmers and other rural people because it can diversify their yield and income, enhance food security as well as increase farm resilience to climate change. Integrating trees such as those that provide fruit, fodder, or nitrogen-fixation can also offer a range of direct and indirect benefits to farmers.
FAO said that there are three main types of agroforestry systems: 1- Agrisilvicultural systems, that Combination of trees and crops, such as alley cropping or homegardens.
2-Silvopastoral systems, that Combination of trees and grazing of domesticated animals, including in rangelands.
3-Agrosilvopastoral systems, that Combination of trees, animals and crops, such as homegardens involving animals.
The diversity inherent in agroforestry is both a challenge and an opportunity. Since agroforestry can be designed to optimize its production and benefits, agroforestry should be tailored based on environmental conditions, the needs of the individual farmer and their community, and other economic considerations such as availability of resources, markets and value chains.
This requires a thorough understanding of the context and realities facing farmers, as well as expertise in all components of the agroforestry system and their integrated management to ensure short, medium and long-term benefits. Therefore, agroforestry systems require multidisciplinary knowledge, including an understanding of appropriate species, optimal arrangement and management and how the trees, crops and/or animals interact with each other throughout the year and growing cycles.