Preface

This volume is part of the celebrations of the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the International Council for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF).

Our authors are leaders in their fields and active in the promotion of agroforestry. Some are scientists actively engaged in research in a particular facet of agroforestry; some are active in the application of agroforestry as a land-use system;still others are concerned with the social and economic issues of the benefit/cost of agroforestry in development. We are deeply indebted to them for their dedication to agroforestry which is clearly shown by the thoughtfulness and insight in each paper.

The authors demonstrate—no doubt unintentionally—the newness of the discipline, for the reader will quickly discover differences in the definition of the term agroforestry as used by the different authors. We have not attempted to restrict the authors by forcing a single definition upon them. Nor, we hope, have we been overzealous in attempting to force the papers into a common mould. We believe that the shades of meaning in their use of the word agroforestry are both good and bad—good in that we have not closed our minds to the opportunities and benefits of dialogue with colleagues who can bring in new ideas and generate different approaches; bad in that it may hinder progress by dissipating our energies over too broad a field.

The authors raise several issues and concerns which, in our judgement, resolve into two basic problems. First, many of the concerns which have been identified would appear to be appropriate for an international organization such as ICRAF, but their implicit requirement for new technology would necessitate a major re-interpretation of the mandate of ICRAF. The other problem is that there are more issues raised than can be addressed effectively by one organization—and the list continues to grow. There is one ineluctable conclusion: the need for co-operation among the many institutions—national, regional and international—to ensure that maximum effort can be brought to bear on seeking solutions to the problems.

The book is divided into five sections. Chapters 1 and 2 are an introduction, with Chapter 2 presenting some projections into the future as well as a retrospective look at ICRAF. Chapters 3, 4 and 5 present some perspectives on agroforestry from the ecological, the institutional and the developmental viewpoints. Chapters 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 describe the prominent agroforestry systems in some particular regions as seen by residents of each region or by persons with many years' experience there. These chapters clearly project the diversity as well as the importance of agroforestry in these different areas. Chapters 11, 12 and 13 cover problems associated with the measurement, impact and transfer of the technology of agroforestry interventions. These chapters should make clear the complexity and interdisciplinary nature of agroforestry, whether one is concerned with research, evaluation or transfer. Finally, Chapters 14, 15, 16 and 17 discuss some research findings and proposals for research activities in four areas of agroforestry, namely, systems, nutrient enrichment, germplasm evaluation and tree-component improvement, all of which ultimately come together as management approaches.

The opinions, ideas and agendas for research are those of the authors and do not reflect or imply the policy of ICRAF.

The editors accept responsibility for the selection of topics covered in this volume. We realize that there are many more subjects which might have been considered appropriate, but space and time constraints did not permit us the luxury of including them. In this context, we would like to draw the reader's attention to the publication of a special issue of Agroforestry Systems (Vol. 5, No. 3), which coincides with the publication of this book. This issue of the journal includes 12 articles written by ICRAF staff, and summarizes a decade of ICRAF's work.

We wish to thank the staff of ICRAF who have given many hours to the realization of this book in reviewing papers, typing manuscripts and in consultations over a myriad details. In the final analysis we, the editors, accept responsibility for any errors which have crept in, some of which might have been avoided had we not been working under such severe time pressure.

Nairobi, July 1987                                                                              H.A. Steppler

                                                                                                             P.K.R. Nair