Agroforestry – as an example of agroecology – can help to feed the 2 billion people who go hungry every night, says Dr Ravi Prabhu, Deputy Director General (Research) at the World Agroforestry Centre in an interview on the youtube channel of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Prabhu explains how research in the field of agroforestry is now focused on how to bring agroforestry to scale, how to link agroforestry systems to markets, and how to change practices in large-scale plantations such as cocoa, rubber and tea.

He emphasizes the importance of working in partnership with farming families to increase their incomes, and with the private sector to bring new products to market and sustain the delivery of existing products.

Prabhu commends the efforts of the Indian government to introduce a national agroforestry policy and he calls on other governments to follow suit and create the space where all elements of agriculture - crops, livestock, trees, water and fisheries – can be incorporated in a landscape view.

The interview was recorded during the International Symposium on Agroecology for Food Security and Nutrition, held at FAO headquarters in Rome from 18 to 19 September 2014.

Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOaxnYKES8w

To download other video interviews and presentations at the Symposium, visit: http://www.fao.org/about/meetings/afns/en/