Agroforestry is a method of integrating agriculture and/or livestock within managed forest-based systems.
Agroforestry was practiced by the Indigenous people of the United States, and holds a lot of potential as being massively productive in terms of food production, resilience, and environmental benefit.
In their Training Manual for Applied Agroforestry Practices, the Center for Agroforestry notes that agroforestry is not taking an existing forest and letting animals graze the area, nor is it placing monocultural areas side-by-side. Instead, agroforestry methods must be implemented intentionally.
Examples of agroforestry include:
The Agroforestry Brief from the USDA shares a way to think about agroforestry: “the right tree in the right place for the right reasons.”
According to the University of Missouri’s renowned Center for Agroforestry’s Training Manual, there are 6 main ways that agroforestry can be implemented in temperate zones.
When viewed from an ecological perspective, agroforestry benefits every aspect of earth stewardship.
Air level: agroforestry offers areas of higher air quality, and also can screen odors
Animal level: agroforestry calls in biodiversity, including pollinators and other beneficial insects; it also offers protection to livestock and helps to reduce heat, wind, and cold stress
Water level: an aspect of agroforestry includes riparian buffers, which act as a filter for water runoff and so the water ends up being cleaner
Soil level: agroforestry prevents erosion, protects soil, builds soil health, and stores carbon
On top of all of this, agroforestry offers more resilience to extreme weather events due to the creation of microclimates and diverse crop plantings.
Farmers who practice agroforestry are able to reduce their levels of management, fertilizer input, and water usage, while creating more streams of revenue at the same time.
Scientific research and modeling show that agroforestry offers a nature-based solution to climate change, through the potential of agroforestry to sequester carbon.
In the review of literature paper “Reconciling productivity with protection of the environment: Is temperate agroforestry the answer?,” the authors note that when weighed up against monoculture or pasture, agroforestry sequesters significantly more carbon.
They share that the amount of carbon sequestration potential can vary depending on the location of the farmland and the soil type.
It is projected that carbon sequestration could be 9 metric tons/ha yearly in semiarid locations, up to 63 metric tons/ha yearly in temperate regions. For reference, 1 hectare is equal to almost 2.5 acres.
This means that there is a lot of potential for areas of the United States and Europe to integrate agroforestry systems into their existing farmlands for environmental benefit.
The paper goes on to highlight that agroforestry systems not only sequester carbon, but also prevent carbon emissions from occurring in the first place.
This is because agroforestry methods of growing food call for less (or eliminated) fertilizer. Synthetic fertilizer manufacturing, application, and excess is a large part of the total greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture. One reason for not needing so much fertilizer is that the leaf litter from the trees offer nitrogen to the nearby rows of annuals.
An internationally authored study published in Circular Agricultural Systems estimates that if we integrated trees into existing global farmland by just 10%, over 10 years more than 18 Pg of Carbon would be sequestered. That’s equal to 18 billion metric tons!
For context, in 2022 the United states carbon emissions were found to be 4,970 million metric tons according to the US Energy Information Administration, and so over 10 years a 10% global increase of farmland would balance out around 1/3 of the emissions of the United States.
Agroforestry not only sequesters carbon, but it also helps our farmlands to be more resilient to the extreme weather events that have become more common due to climate change.
The US Forest Service shares the following ways that agroforestry can help farms and the surrounding areas to have a reduced negative response to climate change:
Dr. Sarah Lovell, the Director for the Center for Agroforestry at the University of Missouri, shares the concept of “production agroforestry” in her video lecture, “Introduction to Agroforestry.”
If we have 4 types of growing areas: annual crops, orchard, agroforestry, and forest, the forest is the most resilient and has the highest ecological benefit, with agroforestry being 2nd best, orchard being 3rd best, and annual crops coming in last.
On the contrary, annual crops are often more productive than orchards, which are often more productive than agroforestry, which is often more productive than forest in terms of food harvest.
Production agroforesty is a way to merge the high resilience and ecological benefit that already exists within agroforestry, and to merge that with high productivity techniques.
When agroforesty is optimized for food production and practiced at scale, it becomes akin to vertical gardening, where more food is grown in a smaller footprint due to taking advantage of the different layers available.
Similar Aspects of Regenerative Agriculture and Agroforestry:
Similarities between syntropic + permaculture food forests:
Differences between syntropic + permaculture food forests:
Origin:
Design + Management:
This video from Regenerative Films features James from Tap o' Noth Farm in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. He implements permaculture principles on his farm, integrating various elements such as food production, fuel generation, fodder cultivation, fiber production, and even herbal medicine. He focuses on incorporating fast-growing trees that contribute to soil building and provide wind protection for the livestock.
To sustainably feed his sheep and goats, James utilizes tree fodder as part of their diet. His farm's design and fencing systems help maintain trees that need to be protected from goat damage, while employing windbreaks to extend the lifespan of other trees.
Additionally, he incorporates poultry, specifically chickens and geese, into his farm management. Chickens are housed in movable tractors, and the geese are placed in small areas of woodland inaccessible to the goats and sheep or in areas with excessive weeds that can be reseeded with more ecologically friendly plants. The geese, being primarily grass eaters, assist in grass maintenance without harming the trees, unlike goats.
James employs a range of agroforestry practices on his farm. This includes alley cropping and silvopasture, where crops are grown between rows of trees and livestock graze in wooded areas, respectively. Forest gardens are cultivated, hedge rows are established, and riparian agroforestry techniques are utilized. Additionally, James practices coppice/pollard methods, which involve periodically cutting back certain trees to stimulate regrowth, and the trimmings can be used for fodder or wood stove fuel.
On this farm, the incorporation of trees provides increased shelter and protection. The focus on self-sufficiency creates a more resilient farm that ensures a consistent supply of fuel, food, and fodder for the animals - all through agroforestry.
This video from Happen Films illustrates a food forest that is now over 30 years old.
Robyn and Robert transformed a run-down property into a 2-acre temperate food forest in New Zealand.
The food forest is home to an extensive variety of plants, with 480 different species in total. They are able to harvest various fruit for 10 months of the year. They cultivate biennial perennial herbs, edible and medicinal bulbs, root crops like parsnips and wild carrots, as well as vines such as grape, kiwi fruit, hops, and gooseberries. Approximately 70% of their food is sourced from their own property.
Robert shares in the video that the forest garden differs from conventional gardens in terms of mindset and actions. It invites us to observe, be open to change, and allow the forces of nature to guide the garden's development.
This video by Paragraphic interviews a backyard permaculturist, Justin, and his food forest in Arizona.
Through a combination of permaculture practices, such as mulching, compost, and compost tea, Justin focuses on nourishing microbial life in order to enhance soil quality and grow more food. His garden calls in beneficial insects to help with pollination and best control.
Even in Arizona heat, he notices that in his food forest, temperatures a much cooler, and the air is easier to breathe.
The crops he grows in his desert-type food forest are wide in range: orange trees, carrots, mango, beans, guava, peaches, tomatoes, salad, herbs, rosemary, spinach are all present.
To be able to have an abundance of food in a backyard, in a hot and dry climate showcases that food forests are a powerful step toward self-sufficiency and climate resilience that anyone with a yard can undertake.
Keith and Trish live in Ontario, and tend to a permaculture food forest that needs to be cold hardy, as they are growing in a zone 4 climate.
Keith is an engineer by trade and offers lots of advice on permaculture, food forestry, and biodiversity on his Youtube channel.
In this video, he showcases how growing a food forest became a way for him to change his lifestyle to something that is more nature-based and is rooted in activism while fostering food security for him and his family. He saw the destructive problems of modern "big agriculture" and wanted to do something that was better for the planet.
Keith demonstrates how you can have a successful and lush food forest, even in a cold climate. He grows sea buckthorn, peaches, pawpaws, persimmons, figs, and kiwis that are all cold hardy.
In his food forest, he utilizes all layers of vertical space, from ground cover to herbaceous plants to bushes to tree canopy, all intertwined with vines to grow as much food as possible in one space, and to utilize the permaculture principle of guilds and interplanting.
He speaks to the benefit of "maximizing photosynthesis" and how in a regenerative growing area, when we grow more plants and have more leaf area available as "solar panels," we build soil health while sequestering carbon at the same time, and grow healthier plants because of it. In order to encourage as much carbon storage as possible, he leans towards growing perennial food crops.
One thing that stood out to me in this video is how he lets his garden become a solution to any problem, letting nature itself solve the issue instead of needing to bring in something external. For example, when rabbits were eating down his food crops, he could have fenced off his land or discouraged the rabbits in some other way. Instead, he planted a large patch of clover - a favorite for rabbits - so that they could have a space to eat and not even want to hoard all of his salad greens. Then, he put a "wall" of onions around the clover so that the rabbits wouldn't go past the clover patch, since the smell of onions is distasteful to them.
Phố Phạm tends to a food forest in the heat of central Texas, where she is doing something unique - she grows all of her food in containers! I really like how she exemplifies that you can grow a food forest in any space, regardless of if you have access to topsoil or not.
Phố grows an impressive amount of food considering they are all in containers, and is able to supply a good portion of her food. The containers allow her to grow more heat-loving plants, as when winter temperatures get below freezing she is able to move all of her plants into her garage to keep them warm.
Phố preserves food and shares her abundance with friends and family. With 100 citrus trees and 75 guava trees, with different varieties of each offering an abundance of flavors and a wide range of harvest periods. She is also able to grow her own peaches, and brings the flowering branches into her home for Lunar New Year.
She tends to her trees by pruning, adding in worm castings and homemade compost, and she fertilizes with fish fertilizer that she makes herself.
Agroforestry, like any agricultural practice, has some potential disadvantages that might not work with everyone’s goals and resources. The following disadvantages were highlighted in the Savanna Institute mini-documentary, “Persistence”:
In my opinion, the environmental benefits and the ability to have a more resilient food system outweigh these disadvantages. While it may take initial time and energy, once the plants are established the amount of work can decrease while the harvest continues for years to come.
Regenerative agriculture and agroforestry are two ways of tending to the land and growing food while fighting climate change at the same time. When we combine these two techniques, we can encourage biodiversity, build soil health, improve water management, and feed our population.
Together, regenerative agriculture and agroforestry present us with a pathway to create resilient and sustainable food systems while contributing to the larger goal of addressing climate change and nurturing our planet for future generations.
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