Agroforestry Status, Trends, and Outlook in Southeast Asia

Background

Agroforestry is the interaction of agriculture and trees, including the agricultural use of trees. This includes trees on farms and in agricultural landscapes, farming in forests and at forest margins, and tree-crop production. Interactions between trees and other components of agriculture such as livestock, fishery and aquatic species is important at a range of scales: in fields (where trees and crops are grown together), on farms (where trees may provide fodder for livestock, fuel, food, shelter or income from products, including timber) and landscapes (where agricultural and forest land-uses combine in determining the provision of ecosystem services).

The passage of the ASEAN Guidelines for Agroforestry Development at the 40th ASEAN Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) meeting on 11th October 2018 in Vietnam brought significant attention to agroforestry in the region. It is hoped that the 'Guidelines' will prime ASEAN Member States to contribute significantly to the attainment of the ASEAN Food, Agriculture and Forestry Sector's Vision and Strategic Plan, particularly Strategic Thrust 4, 'Increasing resilience to climate change, natural disasters, and other shocks', and Action Program 5, pertaining to the 'expansion of resilient agroforestry systems where they are ecologically and economically appropriate'.

Under the Technical Cooperation Program of the Food Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the ASEAN Secretariat on 'Scaling up Agroforestry for food security and environmental benefits in Southeast Asia', the ASEAN Food, Agriculture and Forestry sector is requesting a Report that encapsulates the status, trends, and outlook of agroforestry in the Southeast Asian region. Such report shall provide information on agroforestry practices, concepts, programs, policies, training, education and research, industry, issues/challenges, impacts and other relevant aspects. It shall also draw an outlook of agroforestry into the future towards a resilient Southeast Asian region. It shall have an accompanying monitoring and reporting design for ASEAN Member States to report on contributions and progress toward achieving resilience through agroforestry in the region. The ASEAN Secretariat envisions to commission periodic updating of the report.

The Agroforestry Outlook

ICRAF and SEARCA recognize the momentum brought by the adoption of the ASEAN Guidelines for Agroforestry Development and would like to harness this development by heeding the call of the ASEAN FAF sector to produce the first Agroforestry Status, Trends, and Outlook for Southeast Asia. Through the report, ICRAF and SEARCA will gather the relevant perspectives from key stakeholders in the sector to respond to the challenges and ensure resilient interventions in agroforestry. This will further guide development efforts and sustainable policies that can shape leadership roles, produce more responsive institutional arrangements, and enhance governance.

The Report is expected to completed by early 2021.

Expected Users

The report will be available to the general public but will be of specific use to the ASEAN-Secretariat and the Member States, researchers, educators, and development partners.