As the World Congress on Agroforestry wrapped up last week, a joint communique was developed calling on governments and policy makers to prioritize the promotion of agroforestry by formulating national agroforestry policies.

Such policies would serve to encourage investment in agroforestry, restore degraded landscapes, establish sustainable enterprises and remove constraints that hinder the optimal contributions trees can make to farmers’ livelihoods.

More than 1,000 delegates from 80 countries attend the Congress in Delhi, India which is testament to the global recognition which exists of how agroforestry can provide solutions to many of the challenges facing developing countries.

In announcing India’s landmark National Agroforestry Policy, President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, said agroforestry holds immense promise in enhancing the productivity of land in an environmentally and economically sustainable manner.

India’s policy aims to utilize agroforestry to improve productivity, create employment opportunities, generate income and meet the ever increasing demand for timber, food, fuel, fodder, fertilizer, fiber from a growing population.

India’s Secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research, Dr. S. Ayyappan, said that although agroforestry has come of age as a scientific discipline, its impact on business and development sectors has not yet been appreciated.

Business leaders were called on by Congress delegates to engage strongly with smallholder farmers to build robust supply chains, dialogue with governments to remove barriers and increase incentives for agroforestry practices and systems to thrive.

Read the full story on African Green Media: Trees must be restored in farms and business models included in policies