Working group on research needs

Introduction

The widespread existence of stable and productive multistrata and multicrop associations in the humid tropics (including, in some cases, the incorporation of domestic animals) suggests these may be an optimal land-use system for the region. The fact that so far such traditional mixtures have received but scant research attention must be attributed in great part to the separation of the agencies which have responsibility for trees, food and other crops, and animals, respectively, and which have each demanded a share of land for their particular production activities.

With increasing population pressures on land and shortage of both food and timber, such a separation is no longer justifiable. To date, foresters have taken a lead in promoting agro-forestry activities, but clearly a proper integration of agronomy, animal husbandry, and forestry must take place. The research approach implies a true interdisciplinary spirit and not competition between disciplines. Through the provision of information, funds, and technical assistance, international organizations that sponsor agro-forestry research can act as catalysts in promoting such integration. The concerned agencies must work together to determine the conditions optimal for mixed production (agro-forestry) as well as those for monocultures. They must begin with an identification of existing land-use systems, their needs and constraints-biological, economic, and social.

The experience that exists in the humid tropics should be collated; common tree, crop, and animal associations should be identified and their roles within the land-use system investigated. In regions where agro-forestry practices do not exist but appear desirable, there should be a search for the most advantageous integration of crops, animals, and forest species in an attempt to reach sustainability, optimal sustained production, and conservation of the environment.

To be successful, agro-forestry systems must be flexible, resilient, sustainable, economically attractive, and acceptable to local populations. The following outlines some of the key areas for research.

Existing and New Agro-forestry Systems

• Assessment of existing and new agro-forestry systems should be careful and systematic, based on standardized methods that define the constraints that can potentially be overcome by the application of an agro-forestry approach. This work is urgently needed, and the existing national and international agencies, such as ICRAF, FAO, UNU, IDRC, and IITA, should adjust their priorities accordingly;
• An attempt should be made to design, on the basis of existing information, optimum agro-forestry systems for implementation under a wide range of local conditions.

Species Composition

• The particular tree-food crop associations for agro-forestry (including, in some instances, animals) depend on the characteristics of the site. For example, on hilly terrain, hedge planting along the contours is a useful conservation practice. On large farms there is considerable flexibility in the distribution of trees, whereas on small farms trees may be feasible only as field boundaries. When animals are part of the association, browse species must be provided. Thus, studies on farm size and the number and distribution of appropriate tree species are required;
• Opportunities should be taken wherever possible to: introduce crops of potential value in agro-forestry systems; maintain varietal selection programmes; and develop methods of propagation that will speed acceptance by farmers. At the same time care must be taken to avoid the introduction of species that are potential weed problems;
• There is a need to identify extension requirements in the field and to appoint appropriate staff who have the basic knowledge needed for the programme. They need to be provided with recommendations that are derived from available data and that are improved on a continuous basis;
• Research based on standard methods needs to be undertaken on the biological and environmental aspects of different species, including: tree-crop interactions (effects of shade and identification of shade-tolerant plants); optimal density and distribution; competition for water and nutrients and ways to obviate it; possible allelopathic and symbiotic effects; nutrient budgets and nutrient cycles (particularly offtake by crop harvests and grazing animals, immobilization in standing timber, returns to the soil from leaf litter and pruned branches, the available and total nutrient resources of different soils, recycling of animal and plant wastes to the soil, fertilization effects and their efficiency for both tree and herbaceous crops, and the contribution of nitrogen-fixing plants to the overall nitrogen budget); effects of soil characteristics, rainfall, and altitude (most promising systems for each set of conditions); pest studies (tree-crop associations that limit diseases, insects, rodents, etc.).

Economic Aspects

• There is a need to ascertain optimum yields from agro-forestry systems. The word optimum should be taken in a broad context, implying a cost-benefit analysis that includes social and other intangible benefits and costs in the short and long term. Economic comparisons of agro-forestry schemes with alternative land uses provide useful data, particularly for those responsible for land-use planning and management. The various risks such as crop failures, labour shortages (and the desirability to have labour-intensive or labour-extensive conditions), dependency on inputs from outside, and damage to watershed areas are some of the many variables that should be included in economic analyses. Marketing aspects, particularly those that favour the producers but with which they may be unfamiliar because of the commodities involved, are another research priority.

Social Aspects

• Methods of discerning social aspects of each locale are also a priority because agro-forestry, possibly more than other land-use techniques, assumes that desirable systems must be compatible with the prevailing local values and customs and that the local people should participate in making decisions that will affect them;
• Investigations need to centre on techniques of determining how acceptable a scheme is likely to be in a particular locale, and how community leaders or trend setters can be identified and provided with information on desirable changes; these investigations will provide a basis for successful extension campaigns;
• The possibilities for agro-forestry in relieving rival tensions and stemming the exodus of younger people from rural areas need to be examined.

Support Services

• Facilities such as seed banks, live collections of genetic materials, particularly indigenous species, should be promoted in association with appropriate international bodies;
• Appropriate tools and instruments that are useful to agro-forestry should be given priority.

Working group on training and extension

Training applicable to agro-forestry can be either formal (primary and secondary schools, technical certificate and diploma courses, and undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes) or non-formal (in-service or short-term training).

Formal Training

In primary and secondary schools, the curricula already contain agriculture. Agro-forestry principles should be introduced so that agriculture and forestry are no longer compartmentalized. Emphasis should be placed on the environment and the role of trees, food crops, and livestock within it. Current teaching materials need to be revised so that they reflect this emphasis, and practical work-for example, encouraging pupils to plant trees in the school garden-should be included.

Technical training at agricultural, forestry, and animal sciences colleges or schools should introduce the concept of agro-forestry as an integrated form of land use.

Undergraduate training should include practical exposure to the multiple use of land so that students derive an integrated view of land management. Students of forestry, agriculture, and animal sciences should be brought together in at least one course on land management which embraces the various disciplines and includes the concept of agro-forestry. A specialized course on agro-forestry is not necessary, but agro-forestry should be highlighted in other courses wherever possible.

Postgraduate training, in addition to emphasizing research in agro-forestry, should incorporate courses on land management. Such courses should stress the role of agro-forestry and should be offered to students of agriculture, animal sciences, forestry, etc.

Non-formal Training

Non-formal training in agro-forestry should be encouraged for all people who are responsible for the related disciplines, especially the teachers of formal training courses. In-ervice training can provide professional staff with the opportunity to gain experience and new ideas, and it may be undertaken on a South-South basis, sometimes across continents.

Universities should play a key role in non-formal training, as they provide a favourable environment for it. Research institutes and government departments could also provide training. Centres which have informed staff, appropriate infrastructure, research and study facilities, and field experiments should be used for agro-forestry training. International agencies may provide financial assistance and help in the organization of such courses. ICRAF is planning to initiate a programme of in-service training, and the UN University has been training a limited number of scientists on an international basis since 1978.

Priorities

Priority should be given to the inclusion of agro-forestry in training at the technical and non-university levels, as technical personnel carry out the actual work in the field. The first step is to train, perhaps through non-formal courses, teachers of these personnel so that they can provide the right type of leadership. Funding for non-university level training should come from national governments and, where necessary, international agencies.

Public Enlightenment

Introducing agro-forestry to the people is necessary. Radio programmes, newspaper articles, posters, and displays at agricultural shows are possible avenues.

Each country should form an agro-forestry committee that would include people from a range of disciplines and interests in land use and include the ministry of information. This committee would put forward ideas to national information services or other appropriate channels.

Publicity material, as with the composition of the national agro-forestry committees, depends on each country's circumstances. Universities should be enlisted to produce material, which may need translating into local languages, and could include posters, literature, films and filmstrips, and tapes for radio. The dissemination of such material could be done by various national agencies, including cooperative unions, adult education services, and the like.

Demonstration and experimental plots, sited in key locations and worked by field staff and selected local farmers, are essential. These should be financed by various national bodies and organized through the national agro-forestry committees.

Motivation of farmers is vital and can be aided by governments through guaranteed purchases of certain products such as pulpwood.

Working group on systems management

Managing agro-forestry production means organizing three basic elements-labour, land, and capital. Each presents constraints as well as resources for management. In addressing the issue of how to combine these inputs, one should not lose sight of the time requirements-both for crop- tree decisions and for longer-term development interests.

Labour in agro-forestry systems is mainly provided by small farmers, and this is the most critical input in systems management. Labour is limited, and the farmers have priorities. They will usually prefer to give their efforts to activities with guaranteed food or other outputs. Agro-forestry requires additional labour input, especially in the establishment of trees; however, in some circumstances direct labour savings are possible. Farmers are frequently employed off the farm, and this fact should not be overlooked by agro-forestry planners. Agro-forestry systems that call for combinations that cut across the traditional division of labour of a particular culture or community, for example between men and women, are likely to be poorly accepted.

Agro-forestry may mean a re-organization of the sequence of labour inputs that conflicts with other activities. In short, labour cannot be defined simply as the number of workdays required. If farmers must forgo or make short-term production sacrifices, incentives are necessary.

In the African humid tropics, land is less of a constraint than is labour. Agro-forestry should mean both trees in the fields and crops in the forest. In other words, agro-forestry as a system has production goals and conservation goals, depending on needs and resources. In management decisions regarding land, the great majority of the constraints derive from ownership or tenure. A tenant or other user may wish to plant trees but be prohibited by the owner because tree planting may confer rights of use. Although land tenure in many countries is changing rapidly, it may be distinct from that which is officially described. Tenure seems, therefore, to have more important implications for agro-forestry than does land availability.

Institutional Framework

• Although an institutional framework for agro-forestry at national level is desirable, it may never be possible. What is possible is joint efforts of all land-use sectors. Coordination of services to farmer participants in agro-forestry programmes means a common understanding of the system by all the agencies involved. Such an understanding is lacking today and, because it enables systems management, it must be a priority;
• Institutional coordination must start with the policy-makers and extend to the field workers. Government may wish to designate a lead agency or focal points for agro-forestry to get programmes off the ground.

Policy

• A considerable effort should be made at the international level to clarify agro-forestry policy proposals; at present, few, if any, agro-forestry policies per se exist. Clarification will substantially aid countries to develop their own policies;
• Policies must not be seen as just another means for foresters to achieve their tree-planting goals. To overcome this suspicion, foresters should meet with members of all land-use sectors and discuss their common interests at the planning and execution stages. Better representation of agriculturalists at agro-forestry meetings, either national or international, is a first step;
• Policy development and review must be based on clear objectives understood by all. The existing objectives are, in many countries, still only semidefined and need to be made clear-cut. Basic information on the merits of agro-forestry and its development potential in broad socio-economic terms must be put forward to policy-makers. Professionals involved in agro-forestry today must be more affirmative in taking their case to government decision-makers;
• Those interested in agro-forestry policy should consider as a first exercise a careful study of both agricultural and forestry policies to determine whether these will impede or promote agro-forestry.

Legal Instruments

• A careful review of the law and its relationship with agro-forestry is fertile ground for endeavour. Policy is implemented through legal instruments and the lack of agro-forestry policy implies a lack of legal instruments. Indeed, many of the constraints to agro-forestry management have their origins in the laws. In this respect, the laws that put constraints on the use and ownership of forest trees should be reconsidered. Legal constraints to agro-forestry may lie outside forestry and agricultural laws; they may be found in laws on credit availability, land tenure, land reform, business enterprises, and tribal and family customs. These laws should not be overlooked in a holistic approach to agro-forestry managements;
• The implications of changes in the laws should be examined carefully; how they would affect everyone from government staff to smallholder farmers should be anticipated as much as possible;
• Legislation should seek to promote the permanent associations of agriculture, forestry, and animal sciences for the general good of society. Many of the details of agro-forestry management could be dealt with in complementary regulations that are more flexible, easier to interpret, and simpler to modify than legislation.