Agroforestry, food and nutritional security_FINAL

Agroforestry supports food and nutritional security through: (1) the direct provision of tree foods such as fruits and leafy vegetables and by supporting staple crop production; (2) by raising farmers’ incomes through the sale of tree products and surplus staples; (3) by providing fuels for cooking; and (4) by supporting various ecosystem services such as pollination that are essential for the production of some food plants. While challenges for agroforestry in supporting food and nutritional security include policy and market constraints and an underinvestment in research, strong opportunities exist to promote multifunctional, climate-smart agricultural methods involving trees. To better support food and nutritional security, developments in agroforestry policies are required to reform tree and land tenure for the benefit of small-scale farmers, to reform how smallholders obtain agroforestry inputs such as tree seed and seedlings, and to recognise agroforestry as an important investment option. Research should support tree domestication to improve the yields of tree foods, and seek to enhance the complementarity and stability of food production in smallholders’ agroforestry systems.