ICRAF 2012-13 Annual Report

i2012-2013Transforming lives and landscapes with trees

Our visionOur vision is a rural transformation in the developing world as smallholder households increase their use of trees in agricultural landscapes to improve food security, nutrition, income, health, shelter, social cohesion, energy resources and environmental sustainability.

Our missionThe Centres mission is to generate science-based knowledge about the diverse roles that trees play in agricultural landscapes, and to use its research to advance policies and practices, and their implementation that benefit the poor and the environment.

Our core values Professionalism Mutual respect Creativity Inclusiveness

Our strategic goals Building livelihoods by generating knowledge, choice and opportunities Improving landscapes and their sustainability by better managing their complexity Transforming agroforestry impacts to large-scale through policy, innovation and partnerships

Our partnersThe World Agroforestry Centre has always implemented much of its work in partnership with a range of public, private and international bodies. Our partnerships are based on a clear recognition of the value that is added through working jointly with partners and sharing strengths to achieve specific outcomes. We partner with universities, advanced research institutions, national agricultural research organizations, private sector organizations, and government and non-government agencies in the fields of agriculture, forestry, environment, conservation and climate change.

World Agroforestry Centre, Nairobi, Kenya, 2013

ISSN 1995-6851

World Agroforestry Centre. 2013. Annual Report 2012-2013: Transforming Lives and Landscapes with Trees. Nairobi: World Agroforestry Centre

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0201 Message from the Chair

Message from the Director General

ICRAF Strategy 2013-2022

The right trees for the right place

Trees and the changing climate

Biodiversity, health and food security

The living earth

Market matters

How we work

Annexes

pg 02

pg 04

pg 06

pg 08

pg 12

pg 24

pg 30

pg 36

pg 44

pg 54

Contents

2 Annual Report 2012-2013

Message fromthe ChairThe year 2012 saw the final phases of the reform process launched by the

Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). All the

CGIAR Research Programmes (CRPs) became fully operational during the year

and I believe our scientists are now confident about the direction in which they

are moving.

I welcome the fact that we have established closer collaboration with the

Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and our other partners

within the framework of CRP 6, which focuses on forests, trees and agroforestry.

Although the bulk of our future research will take place under this programme,

we will also be making important contributions to several other CRPs, including

those related to water, land and ecosystems; climate change; health and nutrition;

institutions and markets; and, more generally, agriculture and food security.

During the course of the year, the Board of Trustees approved a refreshed

strategy developed by staff and our partners. This was a major event. The Board

also gave its approval to the establishment of a new biofuels facility with the

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). This will lead to new

types of research and public-private partnerships on tree-based biofuels. We also

launched a new GeoScience Lab, which will enable our scientists to significantly

improve their storage, management and analysis of spatial data.

Our West and Central Africa office in Yaound, Cameroon, celebrated its 25th

anniversary in 2012, and the November Board meeting was held there. Zac

Tchoundjeu, the regional coordinator, received the 2012 Buffett Award for

Leadership in African Conservation from the National Geographic Society for

his work on tree domestication. We are all proud about that.

The staff satisfaction survey held during Science Week in 2012 confirmed what I

have always intuitively believed. The World Agroforestry Centre is a great place

to work! Over 90 per cent of staff participated in the survey, and their feedback

was largely positive.

Transforming lives and landscapes with trees 3

From a financial perspective, this was another successful year, and we managed to close without a deficit. This

is my last message as chair, as I am leaving the Board in 2013. I personally feel rather sad as it has been such

a challenge, but at the same time I have a feeling of fulfilment and accomplishment, not only for myself, but

for the Board, the Board secretariat, the senior leadership team, and for the whole institution and its many

partners. So much has been achieved since I joined the Board in 2006. Many challenges remain, but the Centre

has never been in better shape to meet these challenges than it is now.

Eric Tollens

Chair of the Board of Trustees

The World Agroforestry Centre is a great place to work!

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Board member Dr Hector Cisneros receiving a gift from regional coordinator Zac Tchoundjeu during the World Agroforestry Centres 25th anniversary celebrations in Cameroon.


Transforming lives and landscapes with trees:the Strategy of the World Agroforestry Centre 2013-2022A refreshed corporate strategy was developed during 2012 and received final approval from the Board of Trustees early in 2013. The vision of the World Agroforestry Centre is a rural transformation in the developing world as smallholder households increase their use of trees in agricultural landscapes to improve food security, nutrition, income, health, shelter, social cohesion, energy resources and environmental sustainability.

The new direction in the Strategy includes five operational goals: enhancing science quality; increasing operational efficiency; building and maintaining strong partnerships, accelerating the use and impact of our research; and greater cohesion, interdependence and alignment.

The Strategy also lays out roles for the Centre, which are: Generating and validating knowledge as

International Public Goods (IPGs)

Building robust evidence for higher level decisions on policies and investments

Working with partners at multiple scales to translate IPGs into actionable knowledge

Developing and mobilizing capacity at institutional and individual levels

Demonstrating proof of application of knowledge to accelerate impact and advance the science of scaling up

Convening, advocacy and interfacing amongst a wide range of partners to be co-responsible for development outcomes and better engaged with realities faced by development agencies.

The roles and operational goals derive from the mission of the World Agroforestry Centre, which is to harness the best science, people and partnerships within a framework of research for development to fully exploit and extend the positive effects of trees and agroforestry in landscapes across the developing world.

Considering the trends and challenges in the global environment, the emerging research needs and opportunities, as well as the comparative advantages of

the Centre led to the development of three innovative new strategic goals in a programme of research for development impact. These are: Build livelihoods by generating knowledge, choice

and opportunities Improve landscapes and their sustainability by better

managing their complexity

Transform agroforestry impacts to large-scale through policies, innovation and partnerships.

Each strategic goal is accompanied by a series of broad-scale objectives that form the core of our business.

1. Build livelihoods by generating knowledge, choice and opportunities:

Generate knowledge and viable agroforestry technologies to support livelihoods with trees, particularly for the poor and women

Provide information relevant for all land users, managers and planners

Explore different ways and implementation mechanisms of how to turn knowledge and materials into livelihood benefits

Identify livelihood options and choices

Generate options for enhancing greater self-determination

Enhance the contribution of trees to human diets and income

Enable tomorrows smallholders to adapt and prosper through tree-based options

Provide smallholders with locally relevant options to increase the productivity and profitability of farming systems through sustainable intensification with trees

Strengthen tree product value chains enabling the poor and women to have greater access to lucrative markets.

2. Improve landscapes and their sustainability by better managing their complexity:

Integrate trees into landscapes for sustainable intensification of agriculture


Reduce deforestation and forest degradation in mixed agriculture-forest landscapes

Increase the multi-functionality of agricultural landscapes, and understanding of trade-offs and synergies

Prevent and reverse landscape degradation with better soil structure and water holding capacity

Enhance or maintain biodiversity in agricultural and associated landscapes

Avoid eutrophication of water bodies, siltation of reservoirs and disruption of hydrological cycles

Develop natural asset accounting and valuation/pricing of externalities

Model and monitor the land use and land cover changes in tree-based landscapes

Raise awareness on ecosystem services and map, monitor and value these and devise policies that create the incentives to preserve this natural capital.

3. Transform agroforestry impacts to large-scale through policies, innovation and partnerships:

Highlight and mainstream agroforestry into international, regional, national and local policies

Participate in, convene and communicate about pilot development initiatives that use agroforestry innovations to go beyond proof of concept to proof of application

Support development initiatives concerning agroforestry with tools and information

Make information and evidence context specific

Conceive and test innovative extension approaches

Develop frameworks for and build knowledge on the science of scaling up

Better target resources and technologies for specified agroforestry systems and technologies

Help catalyse provision of inputs and materials (e.g. germplasm) for successful testing and adoption of agroforestry practices at scale

Determine how to scale up the benefits of value chain development interventions so as to benefit large numbers of smallholders and other poor value chain actors

Take responsibility for delivery of information in ways that diverse audiences can assess, understand and use.

To implement this programme, six new Science Domains (SDs) were established. These are:

SD1-AgroforestrySystems seeks to understand how agroforestry systems can

function better, be more productive, more attractive for investments and be more ecologically sustainable in the long term

SD2-TreeProductsandMarkets encompasses the science behind understanding

and developing value chains for agroforestry tree products as well as the institutions that support and participate in tree product markets

SD3-TreeDiversity,DomesticationandDelivery

involves identifying, delivering and conserving quality tree germplasm as well as supporting the optimal use of the right tree in the right place for the right purpose

SD4-LandHealth concerned with understanding land degradation

and how it can be prevented, reversed and its significance better communicated and recognized

SD5-EnvironmentalServices focused on understanding and promoting the

benefits and sustenance of key environmental services associated with tree-based landscapes including water, soil stabilization, carbon and biodiversity

SD6-ClimateChange concerned with the vulnerability of smallholders

and developing countries to the negative effects of climate change.

These SDs are based in the headquarters in Nairobi, but the bulk of the implementation will be done in the Centres five Regional Programmes:

East and Southern Africa

West and Central Africa

Southeast and East Asia

South Asia

Latin America.

The budget of the Centre is estimated to grow consistently year by year from US$59 million in 2013 to US$100 million by 2022. This ambitious growth target will allow us to make significant progress in achieving large-scale impact in the developing countries.


The right tree for the right place

Choosing the right treesErosion in the hills surrounding Lake Tanganyika is not only depriving farmers of fertile topsoil, it is leading to sedimentation and nutrient enrichment, which threatens fish stocks and the livelihoods of communities along the shoreline. To tackle these problems, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded a 4-year programme to identify the hotspots of degradation and promote practices to control erosion and improve local livelihoods. By the time it came to an end in 2012, much had been achieved.

In Tanzania and Zambia, the project was managed by government departments. In DRC, in contrast, the lack of any coherent government meant that the task of managing the project was awarded to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) East Africa, which benefited from technical advice from the World Agroforestry Centre. The Centre was also involved in the project in Tanzania and Zambia.

Remote sensing revealed that about 40 per cent of the lake basin had lost some of its vegetation over the past 30 years, and 5 per cent had suffered serious degradation. In DRC, research focused on the remote mountains of Kivu District. Emilie Smith Dumont, a scientist from the World Agroforestry Centre, identified the hotspots of degradation, which had been largely

caused by poor agricultural practices and charcoal burning. Besides leading to serious erosion, the loss of trees had deprived the local population of a significant source of food, fodder and fuelwood.

Once we had identified the worst affected areas, we began to think about the sort of agroforestry interventions which could help to reduce erosion, says Smith Dumont. She and her colleagues interviewed farmers to find out what they knew about local tree species, and what sort of products and services they wanted the trees to provide. It was the knowledge gathered during this process that shaped the villagers tree-planting strategies.

Makingthemostoflocalknowledge

Combining scientific knowledge with the information gathered from farmers, the scientists developed an electronic tool which enables extension workers and farmers to assess which species work best in different locations. The Useful Trees for the Lake Tanganyika Basin Toolkit was published in 2012, with a user guide and field manuals for DRC, Tanzania and Zambia. Lets say a farmer wants to grow trees which provide timber, but is also keen on getting honey, says Smith Dumont. Using the toolkit, he or she can identify which species produce timber and good forage for bees.

Farmers in Bas-Sassandra are enthusiastic about the idea of planting native trees in their cocoa gardens IC

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When Smith Dumont revisited Kivu area in early 2013, she was encouraged to find that local communities had established nurseries with a wide range of trees, mostly native, tailored to suit their needs.

An independent evaluation of the project was carried out by Saskia Marijnissen at the end of 2012. The approach used by this project demonstrates that techniques do not have to be rudimentary to be useful at the local level, she wrote. While most extension manuals recommend a few priority tree species, the tree selection tool was more sophisticated and

far more effective because farmers receive more customized and therefore locally relevant advice.

The tree selection tool puts farmers at the centre of decision-making when it comes to tackling environmental degradation and adopting measures to improve soil fertility. However, Fergus Sinclair, who leads the World Agroforestry Centres research on agroforestry systems, stresses that the tool alone is not enough. You also need people like Emilie with the right mix of knowledge, enthusiasm and skills to work with local communities, he says.

Trees with your cocoa?When Philippe Vaast returned to western Cte dIvoire in 2012, having last been there in the 1980s, he was astonished by the changes which had taken place. When I was last there, the Bas-Sassandra region was covered with dense forest, he recalls. Now, its nearly all been replaced by perennial tree crops.

From 1980 onwards, there was a massive wave of migration from the other regions of the country, as well as Burkina Faso and Mali, towards the west, with the newcomers clearing the forest to make way for cocoa, coffee, oil-palm and rubber. The conventional wisdom was that cocoa was most productive when grown in full sun. Initially, farmers got decent yields, but since many could not afford to buy fertilizers the soils became progressively poorer and yields declined, explains Vaast, who leads the World Agroforestry Centres research on multi-strata tree crop systems.

The Vision for Change project a public-private partnership launched by the World Agroforestry Centre and Mars Inc, and described on page 11 is helping farmers to increase their yields and incomes by rehabilitating old cocoa gardens. This is to be

welcomed, says Vaast. However, he also believes there is scope for the project to encourage farmers to plant native species in their cocoa gardens. There is evidence to suggest that cocoa can still produce high yields under what Vaast describes as managed shade.

But are farmers interested? Preliminary surveys conducted by Vaasts colleague Emilie Smith Dumont, in collaboration with her local colleagues, suggest they are. In October 2012, they interviewed 355 farmers in Bas-Sassandra region. Despite the massive levels of deforestation, they identified 139 species growing on their land. Around 95 per cent of farmers were enthusiastic about the idea of planting native species in their cocoa gardens. These, they believe, could provide them with a range of products, including fruit and timber. They also mentioned that these could help to improve soil fertility and reduce heat stress, a threat to the cocoa bushes.

This is work in progress. In 2013, the scientists will establish demonstration plots to gain a better understanding of how different trees can be matched to different needs and farm conditions.

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The right tree for the right place

Improving livelihoods and landscapes in SulawesiBetween April and September 2012, some 7000 men and women in Sulawesi received training on a wide range of topics, following the launch of the Agroforestry and Forestry in Sulawesi (AgFor Sulawesi) project. Over the next few years, the initiative aims to improve rural livelihoods by encouraging better governance and better environmental management and by raising on-farm productivity, says project leader James Roshetko, a tree and market specialist with the World Agroforestry Centre and Winrock International.

Funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), AgFor Sulawesi is being led by the World Agroforestry Centre, with assistance from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Winrock International, the National Planning and Development Agency of Indonesia and several local partners. The initial focus has been on South and South-east Sulawesi. These provinces were selected on the grounds that they suffer relatively high levels of poverty, have a range of population densities and possess significant tracts of natural forest.

Communities here face a number of challenges. There is a high dependence on exotic crops, such as cocoa, rubber and coffee. This implies a relatively high degree of risk: a fall in commodity prices or the emergence of new pests and diseases could have a catastrophic

impact on incomes. Possible changes in the climate and the variability in weather conditions could also pose a challenge to farmers in the future.

So far, weve done a lot of capacity building, working with farmers to improve their technical knowledge and on-farm management, says Roshetko. The project is promoting a diverse mix of species in agroforestry systems. Between April and September 2012, 38 nurseries of excellence produced almost 200,000 high-quality seedlings. Training exercises have also encouraged farmers to think more carefully about producing crops for which there is an existing market.

Encouragingbettergovernance

A second component of the programme, managed by CIFOR, is raising awareness about the importance of good governance. The project is encouraging local authorities to adopt a participatory approach to decision-making and involve local communities in land-use planning. The third component of AgFor Sulawesi, managed by the World Agroforestry Centre, focuses on improving environmental management across a range of ecosystems and habitats, from intensely managed farmland to natural forest. This component is developing a participatory vulnerability tool to enable farmers to assess threats to their agroforestry systems.

The AgFor Sulawesi project has made strenuous efforts to involve women. IC

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In many parts of Indonesia, womens rights are not given adequate attention. Getting women involved is a priority for all AgFor partners, says Roshetko, and I think weve done well in achieving our targets for female participation. A third or more of those involved in project activities have been women. As it can be difficult for women to leave their fields and farms during busy times of the agricultural calendar, Roshetko and his colleagues have done their best to rearrange

activities to suit the women. Weve also found that women are more focused on growing annual crops than men, so weve designed training sessions to meet their specific interests and time constraints, says Roshetko.

It is too early to say whether the project has had any significant impact on incomes and livelihoods. However, Roshetko is confident that after another year or so, households will begin to see tangible benefits from activities promoted by the project.

A public-private partnership involving the World Agroforestry Centre, Mars Inc. and a range of national institutions is helping to transform cocoa production in Cte dIvoire. Launched in 2010, the Vision for Change (V4C) project aims to increase yields and improve incomes. By grafting improved scions of high-yielding, disease- and pest-resistant cultivars onto old trees, and adopting good agricultural practices, farmers will dramatically increase their yields.

Cte dIvoire is the worlds leading producer of cocoa. However, farmers in Bas-Sassandra region, the main focus for the V4C project, face many challenges. Their cocoa farms are old and productivity is low. The majority of farmers lack the funds needed to buy fertilizer; as a result the soils have become progressively poorer. Pests and diseases have also depressed yields. Currently, the average farmer harvests around 400 kg per hectare. Interventions by the V4C project should push yields up to 1000 kg per hectare.

In 2012, the project made considerable progress. By the end of the year, 13 new Centres de Dveloppement du Cacao (CDCs) were providing technical advice to some 10,000 smallholder farmers. V4C is also supporting various community development projects, such as the renovation of a school in Kragui. However, the highlight of the year was the opening of the Cocoa Somatic Embryogenesis Laboratory at the headquarters of the Centre National de Recherche Agronomique (CNRA) in Adiopodoum on 20 November 2012.

Funded by the V4C project, the laboratory will conduct research on the mass propagation of elite cocoa clones using modern tissue culture techniques.

Somatic embryogenesis provides an alternative approach to the clonal propagation of cocoa. Plants derived from somatic embryos are genetically identical to their parental donor cells, and have a taproot system and growth pattern similar to that of seed-derived plants.

Among those present at the opening ceremony were the Ivorian Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the Vice President of Mars Inc., and the director generals of CNRA and the World Agroforestry Centre.

This ceremony crowns the scientific and technical partnership of this highly credible national institution, CNRA, with a committed private sector partner on one hand and ourselves as an international research institution on the other, said Tony Simons, the World Agroforestry Centres Director General. He pointed out that although somatic embryos for cocoa were first reported in 1977, they remained a scientific curiosity. This laboratory will help to increase the production of high-quality planting materials. Simply put, from single cells come multiple plants come abundant produce, he said.

Brave new world for cocoa growers

The opening ceremony at the Cocoa SomaticEmbryogenesis Laboratory.



Agroforestry reduces vulnerability to climate changeClimate models predict rises in temperature, greater variability in rainfall and an increase in extreme weather events that could reduce agricultural productivity in developing countries by 1020 per cent over the next 40 years. Small-scale farmers in tropical regions are particularly vulnerable to climate change and variability.

It is often claimed that agroforestry can help farmers adapt to climate change, but there has been little quantitative evidence to back this assertion. However, a study by Tannis Thorlakson, a former student at Harvard University, and Henry Neufeldt of the World Agroforestry Centre has provided clear evidence that agroforestry can reduce the vulnerability of farmers to climate change. 1

Their research focused on Kenyas Nyando Valley, an area which suffered severe drought in 2009 and flooding in 2010. These had a serious impact on many

households. During these periods, 72 per cent of the farmers in Lower Nyando were forced to consume seeds which should have been reserved for planting, 85 per cent reduced the quantity and quality of the food they ate, and 72 per cent were forced to sell some of their assets, including livestock. Such short-term strategies to cope with climatic variability can have serious long-term repercussions. Once farming families fall into the poverty trap they may find it difficult to recover lost ground.

Farmers in the Nyando Valley believe the best way to adapt to climate-related shocks is through improving their income. To evaluate agroforestrys potential to help, the researchers made a comparison between farmers who had been involved for two to four years in an agroforestry project and a control group which had not.

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1Thorlakson T, Neufeldt H. 2012. Reducing subsistence farmers vulnerability to climate change: evaluating the potential contributions of agroforestry in Western Kenya. Agriculture & Food Security, 2012.

Agroforestry is good for food security and helps buffer farmers against climatic shocks.


Food security and innovation Why is it that small-scale farmers frequently fail to

adopt new practices and technologies such as

agroforestry when there is so much evidence to

suggest that these practices could raise their yields and

incomes? A survey in four East Africa countries, whose

findings have been published in the journal Food Security2,

may have provided an answer.

The evidence suggests that there is a direct correlation

between food insecurity and a lack of innovation, says

Henry Neufeldt, head of climate change research at the

World Agroforestry Centre. This is a very important

finding, and has significant implications for the way we

go about development.

The research, which was led by the Climate Change,

Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) Program,

explored the relationship between food security and

changes in farming practices made by 700 households.

The study found that many households were adapting

to changing circumstances, such as climatic variability

and demographic pressures, although these changes

tended to be marginal, rather than transformational.

There is nothing surprising about this: farmers are

always adapting to change. However, the finding that

the least food secure households those most likely

to experience food shortages and malnutrition are

the least likely to introduce changes to their farming

practices is of major importance.

We cant say for sure that a lack of food security is

leading to a lack of innovation, rather than vice versa,

says Neufeldt, but my feeling is that that is what is

happening. Poor households are so preoccupied with

the business of day-to-day survival that they have

neither the time nor the funds to invest in farming

practices which, paradoxically, could lift them out of

poverty and ensure they have a better supply of food.3

CCAFS scientist Patti Kristjanson points out that

more research is needed before we can have a full

understanding of the relationship between food

insecurity and innovation. It is critical that we learn

more about both the factors that enable and facilitate

innovation, and how to lower the often hidden costs

and barriers associated with changing agricultural

practices, she says.

The findings suggest that development agencies and

governments, as well as organizations like the World

Agroforestry Centre, need to tailor their activities to

meet the needs of different groups. If they want to

reach the poorest households, they will need to think

about improving their access to food before they can

begin promoting new farming practices.

2 Kristjanson P et al. 2012. Are food insecure smallholder households making changes in their farming practices? Evidence from East Africa. Food Security, Vol 4

3 See also: Thorlakson T, Neufeldt H. 2012. Reducing subsistence farmers vulnerability to climate change: evaluating the potential contributions of agroforestry in western Kenya, Agriculture & Food Security, 2012 1:15.

The results were revealing. Households involved in agroforestry had significantly improved their well-being through improvements in farm productivity and increases in income, for example from the sale of seedlings, timber, fuelwood and fruit. Agroforestry projects also reduced the amount of time women spent collecting fuelwood.

Households practising agroforestry also experienced less hunger when there were droughts, floods or other

significant climatic events. We found that the level of food insecurity during those periods the amount of time during the year when people were hungry was reduced by approximately one month for households practising agroforestry, says Neufeldt. He adds that by combining agroforestry with index-based insurance, farmers could protect themselves against risk and invest in higher-yielding but less hardy crop varieties.



Tackling Indonesias greenhouse gas emissionsIndonesia is one of the worlds largest emitters of greenhouse gas emissions. In 2005, these amounted to 2.05 Gt of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), some 80 per cent of which came from deforestation and other forms of land-use change. This compared with 5.95 Gt for the US and 5.06 Gt for China, making Indonesia the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases at the time.

In 2009, a Presidential Decree pledged to reduce Indonesias greenhouse gas emissions by 26 per cent, relative to a business-as-usual trajectory, by 2020; and by 41 per cent if international finance was made available. Indonesia is the only developing country to make a clear and measured commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, says Sonya Dewi, a scientist with the World Agroforestry Centre.

The Centre has been working with the government to make the commitment a reality, rather than just an aspiration. This has involved establishing baseline datasets for greenhouse gas emissions and providing training and technical assistance to the national and provincial governments on a range of subjects, such as

the establishment of baseline and mitigation scenarios and the potential for reducing emissions from land-use change.

The Presidential Decree requires all provincial governments to submit locally appropriate mitigation actions known as LAMAs to the countrys National Development Planning Board. During 2012, Dewi and her colleagues produced guidelines for developing action plans and conducted numerous trainings to help provincial staff draw up their plans, using its LUWES (Land Use Planning for Low Emission Development Strategy) decision-making platform.

Land-use activities that generate economic benefits, such as forestry enterprises and palm oil plantations, can cause considerable carbon loss if developed in carbon-rich areas. However, halting these activities could lead to serious economic losses if not carefully planned. LUWES provides a set of tools and principles which enable those involved in land-use planning to work out how best to reduce emissions without causing undue economic hardship.

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Large areas of forest have been cleared to make way for oil palm plantations in Indonesia.


Some provinces required more thorough training and several training sessions than others. We found there were variations in both technical capacities and available data across provinces in Indonesia, says Dewi. Capacity tends to be much lower as you move towards the eastern part of Indonesia. However, we found that when a handful of individuals are willing to champion the process, it can make a big difference. By the end of 2012, more than half of the provinces had submitted their LAMA plans.

Working out the levels of current emissions and projecting what they will be in future if no action is taken is a pre-requisite to establishing measurable

reductions in emissions. To enable provinces to do this, Dewi produced technical guidelines, published in the local language, Bahasa Indonesia. The World Agroforestry Centre also published a complete manual for LUWES in Bahasa Indonesia.

In response to local demand, the Centre also conducted training sessions on developing LAMAs, using LUWES, in Viet Nam and Cameroon. Similar sessions have been planned for Peru. During the course of 2012, the software developed within LUWES, known as ABACUS, was translated from English into Bahasa Indonesia and Vietnamese. A French version will be published in 2013.

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The clearance of forests releases large quantities of carbon dioxide, the most significant greenhouse gas in terms of its impact on the climate.



Making climate finance work for small farmersAgriculture is both a cause of climate change directly responsible for 10-12 per cent of human-generated greenhouse gas emissions and a victim, with increases in temperature, changing patterns of rainfall and more extreme weather events already having an impact on food production.

A range of practices that come under the heading of climate-smart agriculture can help farmers reduce their emissions, become more resilient to climate change and increase food production. But theres a catch: if the worlds smallholder farmers are to adopt low-carbon practices such as agroforestry there must be some incentive, financial or otherwise. The big challenge at present is how to connect small-scale farmers to international climate finance, says Henry Neufeldt of the World Agroforestry Centre.

This is the subject of a policy brief Climate Finance for Agriculture and Livelihoods published by the World Agroforestry Centre in 2013. 4 This issue was also explored in depth during the 18th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 18), held in Doha in November 2012. Jointly organized by the World Agroforestry Centre, CARE International and the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) Program, a roundtable session on climate finance was held as part of Agriculture, Landscapes and Livelihoods Day.

During the session, Neufeldt drew on an analysis of seven biocarbon schemes in East Africa, all of which seek to link smallholders to the carbon market. Carbon is the currency that pays for many projects, but only a small amount of the money actually reaches farmers, he says. Most goes on setting up the projects and on measuring and verifying carbon stocks. Nevertheless, farmers gain in other ways.

To give just one example, the Sustainable Agriculture in a Changing Climate (SACC) project, managed by CARE International in western Kenya, estimates that farmers will receive an average carbon payment of just US$3 per year over the projects 25-year lifespan hardly an incentive. However, the income from tree products such as timber, firewood and building poles is estimated to be 50 times greater, and therefore highly significant. Farmers also stand to benefit from the provision of free tree seedlings, the sale of fruit and fuelwood, and higher crop yields that result from improved farming practices.

Smallholder carbon projects invariably require upfront public finance. There is a long lag time between setting up projects and gaining a significant income from carbon. In the case of the SACC project, Phil Franks of CARE International told the meeting that the projects breakeven point would be around year 15, and that was being optimistic. This inevitably deters private investors.

However, there is scope for public-private partnerships. There is plenty of evidence that there is private money looking to invest in sustainable land management, but the investors will need to make a return to do so, says Neufeldt. This theme was explored by Lou Munden, who described the Munden Projects Inari approach to financing sustainable land-use initiatives. This involves leveraging risk across a wide range of investments, spanning countries, landscapes and land-use activities, in order to provide long-term, low-cost credit to producers, with better returns to investors.

Another speaker, Rachel Diro of Colombia University, talked about the importance of providing incentives to help farmers adapt to climate change. These include index-based insurance schemes which buffer farmers against the risks they take when investing in technologies and practices which are designed to increase productivity.

4Foster K, Neufeldt H, Franks P, Diro R, Munden L, Wyatt M, Anand M, Wollenberg E. 2013. Climate Finance for Agriculture and Livelihoods. ICRAF Policy Brief 15. Nairobi, Kenya. World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)


Whereas conventional crop or livestock insurance involves the direct measurement of losses in farmers field, which can be difficult and costly, payments made under index-based insurance schemes are triggered when an agreed parameter such as rainfall falls below a certain level.

More information can be found about this and other aspects of climate finance in the policy brief. It stresses the importance of seeing the subject through the lens of livelihoods and not just carbon sequestration and underlines the need for an innovative and integrated approach that connects rural farmers to public and private finance at the global level.

Going carbon neutralThe World Agroforestry Centre is the first CGIAR institution to make a rigorous assessment of its carbon emissions and in January 2013 its headquarters in Nairobi was officially certified as carbon neutral.

Greenhouse gas emissions for the Nairobi headquarters amounted to approximately 2600 t of carbon dioxide equivalent for 20115. Approximately half the emissions came from staff travel and ground transport; most of the rest came from the consumption of electricity and individual commuting.

In December 2012, the Centre bought carbon credits, based on the 2011 figures, to offset its emissions for the next two years via the CarbonNeutral Company. The first tranche of credits was bought from the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ project in Kenya. This is helping to protect over 200,000 ha of forest, an important wildlife

migration route, between East and West Tsavo national parks.

We put out a call to tender and looked at 10 different projects in East Africa, explains Audrey Chenevoy, who is responsible for overseeing the Centres carbon offsetting programme. We wanted to make sure that the projects we chose were really benefiting local communities. The Kasigau Corridor is creating jobs, improving education and providing direct financial benefits from carbon finance to over 100,000 local people.

As well as offsetting its emissions, the Centre is reducing its carbon footprint by encouraging better recycling, switching to energy-saving lighting and improving video-conferencing as a way of cutting down on travel. Over the coming years, the regional offices will also be assessing their emissions and reducing their carbon footprint.

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5Following the accounting rules of the WBCSD/WRI

The Centres first tranche of carbon credits was bought from the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ project in Kenya.



Promoting carbon-rich agriculture in PeruInternational climate change negotiations have been much preoccupied with Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+). Since deforestation is responsible for 15 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, this makes sense. However, scientists from the World Agroforestry Centre have pointed out that more could be achieved by reducing emissions from all land uses (REALU), as carbon emissions outside areas officially defined as forests are often highly significant.

Take, for example, the Ucayali region in Peru. Since the 1930s, this once remote area in the upper Amazon has seen wave upon wave of migration. This led to a rubber boom and, much later, the building of a new highway to link the region with the capital, Lima. Since then migrants from the Andes and elsewhere have continued to convert forest into farmland, says Claudia Silva of the World Agroforestry Centre. While many have practised shifting cultivation, others have made a

living from highly profitable coca the raw material for cocaine and, more recently, cocoa and oil palm.

In 2012, the ASB Partnership for the Tropical Forest Margins initiated a REALU project in Ucayalis Padre Abad province, one of the most deforested regions in the Amazon. The research is exploring ways of working with farmers to enhance carbon stocks in a range of land-use systems. Scientists are also conducting research on the design of payment schemes which could encourage farmers to increase carbon stocks.

Frombusttoboom

Many families who migrated to Padre Abad during the 1980s and 1990s cleared forest to make way for coca bushes. As part of a programme to reduce production of coca, farmers have been encouraged to plant crops such as cocoa and oil palm. The US-funded Alternative Development Programme, known by its Spanish acronym PDA, was particularly influential in shaping the

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Slash-and-burn farming practices have turned Padre Abad province into one of the most deforested regions in the Amazon.

Farmers are being encouraged to increase carbon stocks by planting native species in their cocoa gardens.


land-use systems and encouraging the conversion of forest to farmland in Padre Abad.

The PDA also helped to establish farmer cooperatives. One of these the Asociacin de Cacaoteros Tecnificados de Padre Abad (ACATPA) is now working with the World

Agroforestry Centre on REALU. Scientists from the Centre had previously collaborated with ACATPA on a project which involved, among other things, planting shade trees in cocoa gardens. Because of our past relationship, we knew about environmental services, says ACATPAs chief executive officer, Ranfol Crdenas. When Claudia told us about the possibility of getting carbon payments, the idea immediately appealed to us.

In 2012, Claudias team, which included technicians from ACATPA, conducted socio-economic surveys of 30 farms covering 931 ha, 128 ha of which were devoted to cocoa. The surveys provided information about every aspect of management, from the crops grown to the length of fallows, from the use of trees on farmland to methods of tackling pests and diseases. At the same time, scientists measured carbon stocks for a range of land-use systems, from high forest to tree crops and degraded pasture.

Layingoutthechoices

By the end of the year, we had come up with a menu of options for farmers, each with different implications for storing and trapping carbon, says Silva. At one end of the spectrum is business as usual. In this scenario, smallholders will continue to emit carbon by clearing forests and older fallows to make way for crops. At the other end are farming systems which involve a range of different options which will increase carbon stocks.

Weve calculated that by planting trees, farmers could increase carbon stocks in their cocoa gardens from an average of 7590 t of carbon to 120 t, without reducing productivity, explains Silva. Scientists are currently assessing the sort of measures, and legal arrangements, which will enable smallholders to receive payments for their carbon enrichment activities under the voluntary carbon market.

Many of ACATPAs members have high hopes for the project. I think this scheme could provide us with some income, says Nicolas Agero, who manages 9 ha of cocoa gardens with one of his sons. It may not be much, but it will help. He says he would be happy to plant more trees in his cocoa gardens; even if the payments are modest, the trees will provide him with timber and fruit. Agero also knows that better management could increase the productivity of his cocoa gardens. This, stresses Silva, is an important part of the project. Its not just about carbon, she says. Its about creating sustainable and productive farming systems.

Nicolas Agero is one of many farmers who hope to benefit from the REALU project.



Adapting to climate change in the West African SahelClimate models suggest that the West African Sahel is likely to become hotter and drier, with a more variable climate, during the next century. This has serious implications for rural communities. Strengthening their ability to analyse vulnerability to climate change and develop plans to adapt to change is one of the priorities of a World Agroforestry Centre project funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

A participatory methodology to analyse the vulnerability of livelihoods was developed and applied in villages in one region in Mali, another in Niger and two in Burkina Faso. Using the methodology, scientists were able to gather information about how the landscape has changed, the major threats to natural resources, and the villagers plans if any to reduce their vulnerability to climate change.

Villagers typically cited a number of changes to the landscape. Woodlands had disappeared as a result of over-harvesting for fuel and fodder; many native tree species had disappeared, especially in drier regions; most wild animals had become locally extinct, largely because of over-hunting; and constant cropping had led to soil degradation and the loss of fertility. Many villagers also said that rainfall had become more meagre and less predictable; they attributed this to changes in the climate, rather than any human activities.

The fact that most villagers recognized that they themselves, and their ancestors, are responsible for the negative changes in the landscape is crucial for any climate change adaptation plan, says John Weber, who led the research with Carmen Sotelo Montes. If they accept responsibility for causing change, then they know that they can alter certain practices to reverse the trends and adapt to a hotter, drier and more variable climate.

However, Weber points out that relatively few villagers understood the effect of tree cover on local rainfall and water table levels. This highlights the need for extension and education programmes to explain why the retention of tree cover is important.

During subsequent discussions, the villagers highlighted practices which could help them adapt to climate change. These included farmer-managed natural regeneration, which has helped to re-green large expanses of once degraded parklands in Niger, and the planting and protecting of drought-tolerant tree species, and provenances within species, especially in drier areas.

Ageandgendermatter

The methodology also involved interviews and discussions with different gender and age groups: adult men, young men, adult women and young women. Members of each group began by listing the principal activities including agriculture, animal herding, the sale of food products from trees and fuelwood collection which contributed to their livelihoods, and the threats to these activities. Having assessed the vulnerability of each activity on a scale of 0 to 3, they then discussed specific adaptation plans for each of them.

The gender group analysis illustrated the importance of developing adaptation plans that respond to the specific vulnerability issues of each group, says Sotelo Montes. Our research suggests that livelihoods of different gender and age groups may be vulnerable to different factors that are directly or indirectly affected by climate change. Vulnerability should therefore be assessed not only by region, but by gender and age groups within each region when developing climate change adaptation plans.

In several villages, adult women identified two major threats to the livelihood activities of all groups: a large number of children who cannot be properly fed, clothed and educated; and limited farm size, especially in the drier and hotter regions. Their solution: family planning.

Many traditionally-minded men refused to listen to these discussions. However, there were also many young men and women who clearly understood the need for family planning as part of their strategy to adapt to climate change. We need to recognize


Researchers in Burkina Faso investigating villagers adaptation strategies to climate change.

that human beings are also natural resources, and that managing the size of the human population is an essential component of a natural resource management plan, says Weber.

Obviously, the World Agroforestry Centre and other institutions conducting research on natural resource

management should not become involved in developing management plans for the human population. However, Weber believes they should promote dialogue about these issues both within and among governmental and non-governmental organizations involved in resource management and climate change adaptation planning.

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Adapting to climate change in Viet NamHow are small-scale farmers in Viet Nam and the Philippines adapting to extreme weather events, such as floods and typhoons? And to what extent are agroforestry practices helping them to cope? These are among the questions which scientists from the World Agroforestry Centre are putting to farmers in a research project assessing adaptive strategies to climate change in Southeast Asian watersheds. Under another project, conducted in parallel, scientists are providing support to local governments so that they can develop policies for climate change adaptation.

Most of the farmers weve talked to say that even though there were extreme weather events in the past, they tended to be regular, says World Agroforestry Centre scientist Elisabeth Simelton, who is responsible for overseeing research activities in Viet Nam. Now, they say that there are more extreme events and they are less predictable.

In Viet Nam, the projects have focused on two districts: Yen Bai, a mountainous area near the border with China; and Ky Anh, a coastal area which is frequently hit by typhoons. Prior to conducting interviews with

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Extension worker Hoang Thi Thuy Ha interviewing a local farmer, Tich Thi Dang, in Yen Bai province.


farmers, local extension workers received training in the use of participatory tools these will be published in 2013 specifically designed to guide discussions about extreme weather events, climate change adaptation, and the role of trees. Together with Simelton, they subsequently held focus group discussions, involving some 90 people, in 18 villages.

They found that farmers are exposed to at least five types of extreme weather events, and these contribute along with other factors, such as pests and diseases to crop failures, livestock deaths and the loss of income. Where extreme weather was not the direct cause of harvest failure, it was often the final nail in the coffin, says Simelton.

Most of the coping strategies identified by the research were reactive, with farmers taking measures after the events, rather than before. Knowledge about agroforestry and its potential to buffer farmers against climatic shocks, for example by preventing landslides, was scanty.

The information gathered during the focus group discussions will help local governments to develop and refine their land-use plans. Although some district staff

had received training on climate change issues, most had never worked on mainstreaming climate change into land-use plans. To improve their knowledge and skills, Simelton and her colleagues organized a number of workshops, which included feedback from the focus group discussions and an introduction to climate-smart agriculture and the role of agroforestry.

Local government officials showed considerable interest in developing their knowledge. Thats partly because the districts are legally obliged to develop climate change adaptation plans, and the government has to pay compensation for some losses of crops and livestock, says Simelton. But theyve also heard the testimony of farmers, and that has encouraged them to take a greater interest in climate-change adaptation.

During the second year of these three-year projects, Simelton and her colleagues will analyse household surveys, existing meteorological data and farmers perceptions about changes in the climate. This will help them to assess vulnerability to climate shocks at the household level. The project will also continue to help local governments develop their land-use plans.



Trees, biodiversity and healthThere may be 60100,000 species of tree in the world. Between them, they offer an astonishing array of products and services. They provide us with timber, fuelwood, fruit, medicines, livestock fodder and much else, and they help to maintain the health of landscapes and ecosystems. The future of humankind depends, to a considerable degree, on our ability to safeguard this rich source of biodiversity.

In October 2012, the World Agroforestry Centre played a prominent role at the 11th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity, which attracted some 5000 policymakers, scientists and environmental activists to Hyderabad, India. This was the first time we have attended a biodiversity COP, says Ramni Jamnadass, head of the research programme on domestication, and it provided an excellent platform for discussing the roles and importance of trees on farms.

One of the main side events during the week was Tree Diversity Day, which the World Agroforestry Centre co-hosted with Bioversity International, the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). There is always a strong focus on policy during international COPs like this, but Tree Diversity Day helped to create some space to describe some of the

scientific issues of importance, says Stepha McMullin, who coordinated the event.

Meine van Noordwijk from the World Agroforestry Centres Southeast Asia office opened the morning session by describing the importance of tree diversity in the UN conventions on biological diversity, climate change and desertification. Ramni Jamnadass discussed the role of trees for food, health and nutrition; Eike Luedeling contributed to the discussion about biodiversity and climate change; and Roeland Kindt spoke about vegetation mapping (see page 45) in a session on restoring biodiversity to landscapes.

Whatscooking?

An evening event organized by the World Agroforestry Centre Whats cooking on farms? Trees for health, fuel and nutrition proved so popular that, in the words of the organizer, Stepha McMullin, there were people hanging out of the doors and windows. Speakers talked about the contribution of medicinal trees and shrubs to human health, the importance of domesticating wild fruit trees, and health issues related to the use of fuelwood.

According to Tony Cunningham, a senior associate with the World Agroforestry Centre, some 2.4 billion people in developing countries rely on wood, charcoal and animal dung for cooking and heating. In Africa, 90 per cent of the rural population use these solid fuels, and they would be lost without them. You cannot eat raw beans; it would be dangerous to eat raw chicken or pork. In short, much of the food we eat must be cooked.

While many types of fuelwood do the job theyre supposed to do without significantly damaging human health, others pose or could pose a serious health risk. Cunningham gave the example of Euclea divinorum, whose local name in Africa ichitamuzi means to split the family. Any use of the wood is thought to lead to family arguments, so it is never used for cooking. This is just as well, said Cunningham. Not only does Euclea wood produce a lot of smoke, it contains diterpenes

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Mangoes and maize in Kenya.


that can have serious health consequences when inhaled.

Some tree species contain aromatic hydrocarbons that are carcinogenic when inhaled; and certain metal ions, released when wood is burned, can lead to eye cataracts. With charcoal and fuelwood becoming more expensive, many poorer families find they can no longer afford to buy non-toxic fuelwood, and end up using whatever they can.

One way of tackling this problem is through the cultivation of trees that produce good quality fuelwood on farms. Cunningham recommended using participatory processes that combine modern science and local knowledge to select tree species with low toxins.

The World Agroforestry Centre already has considerable experience of participatory tree domestication, a practice which it pioneered in West and Central Africa. This was the focus of a presentation by Roger Leakey, the author of Living with the Trees of Life, a book which draws heavily on his long experience as a former research scientist with the Centre.

Diverse agroforestry systems, argued Leakey during the Whats cooking? event, could help to stem the loss of biodiversity, and at the same time tackle land degradation and social deprivation. Participatory domestication can play an important role in improving the profitability and productivity of smallholder farming systems.

A new dealDuring the 11th Conference of the Parties in Hyderabad, the World Agroforestry Centre and the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) signed an agreement which aims to improve smallholders livelihoods. The agreement will do this through the development and application of knowledge on the use of trees to diversify farming systems. It will contribute directly to the CBD Strategic Plan for Biodiversity and a series of targets known as the Aichi Nogoya targets to protect the worlds biodiversity. So far, 197 countries have signed up to these.

Agriculture should no longer be seen as the enemy of biodiversity, said Ravi Prabhu, the Centres Deputy Director General for Research, as he signed the new Memorandum of Understanding with CBD Executive Secretary Braulio Ferreria de Souza Dias. During the same event, the CBD Secretariat signed another MoU with the CGIAR Research Programme on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry, in which the World Agroforestry Centre is a major partner.

The vast majority of families in rural Africa rely on wood for cooking.

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Agroforestry and tree conservationThe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species estimates that 1200 trees and shrubs are critically endangered, 1700 are endangered and another 3700 are vulnerable. The decline in availability of many tree species, and the loss of habitats in which they are found, is of particular concern to rural communities who depend on them for their sustenance and livelihoods.

It is frequently claimed that agroforestry, now practised by an estimated 1.2 billion people, has a significant role to play when it comes to conserving trees and shrubs. But to what extent is this true? A review published in Biodiversity and Conservation in 2013 sifted the evidence.6 What we tried to do for the first time, I think was bring together into a single consideration the different mechanisms of tree conservation, and explore the linkages between them, says the reviews leading author, Ian Dawson, an Associate Fellow with the World Agroforestry Centre.

Agroforestry systems frequently boast high tree species diversity, and they can therefore make a significant contribution to conservation. However, the review points out that in some situations this is a transitory state of affairs. For example, an agroforest may contain

trees which are remnants of the old forest cover, and these may not be replaced when they die. If we are to successfully conserve trees on farmland we need to understand how to promote connectivity among individual trees in low-density populations.

We also need to understand how issues such as climate change will affect pollination, and potentially reduce connectivity, says Dawson. This is particularly important when it comes to conserving trees whose main function is the provision of fruit. If particular fruit tree species are found at such low densities that their pollination becomes problematic, and hence little fruit is produced, farmers will gain little from keeping them.

Conventional wisdom suggests that cultivating trees on farms, or in plantations, helps to take pressure off nearby natural forests. However, the review suggests that there is little hard evidence for this. Indeed, the opposite may be true if cultivation increases markets or eases access to resources. The conditions under which cultivation can promote forest protection are being explored more fully in partnership with Bioversity International and the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).

6Dawson IK, Guariguata MR, Loo J, Weber JC, Lengkeek A, Bush D, Cornelius JP, Guarino L, Kindt R., Orwa C, Russell J, Jamnadass RH. 2013. What is the relevance of smallholders agroforestry systems for conserving tropical tree species and genetic diversity in circa situm, in situ and ex situ settings? A review. Biodiversity and Conservation, Vol 22, No 2. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10531-012-0429-5

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Dawson and his co-authors believe that the presence of tree seeds in collections held by commercial dealers, research institutes, national tree seed centres and genebanks may lead to a false sense of security, promoting the belief that the species are being conserved and will be available for future use. However, these ex situ collections do not necessarily represent the best way of conserving many species, not least because of the high costs of regenerating stored seed, and the fact that many species are represented only once or a few times and may be lost as commercial

demands and research trends change.

Ultimately, conservation relies on a combination of forest, farm and ex situ approaches. According to the authors, conservation will increasingly rely on retaining a diverse range of tree species on smallholders farms. However, concerns about the long-term effectiveness of this strategy need to be properly quantified and addressed. More research is also needed on the stability of tree seed collections held by dealers, researchers and seed centres.

Safeguarding the genetic heritageIn 2012, the World Agroforestry Centres Genetic Resources Unit received the first tranche of a grant which will lead to major improvements in the conservation and storage of tree germplasm. This will strengthen its ability to provide the genetic material required for research and conservation, and for programmes involving domestication. The five-year grant will be divided between the long- and medium-term storage of seeds at low temperatures and conservation in field genebanks.

Over the years, the Centre has established an ex situ collection of around 3700 accessions of some 300 agroforestry species in medium-term storage at its headquarters in Nairobi. It also has over 1500 accessions in the Millennium Seed Bank in the UK and over 750 accessions in Kunming, in China, in long-term storage. About 770 accessions are in safety duplication at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway.

We aim to conserve as many different varieties of the priority agroforestry tree species as possible, to represent their range of genetic diversity, says genebank manager Alice Muchugi. The new grant means that we can now expand our ex situ collections and improve the seed research and storage facilities at our headquarters.

Many agroforestry tree species valued by farmers, including many important fruit trees, are recalcitrant;

that is, they produce seeds which cannot be conserved in cold, dry conditions. Instead, they must be grown from either seeds or clones in field genebanks, where they can be used for multiplication and distribution, as well as for conservation.

The World Agroforestry Centre has some 60 field genebanks in over 20 countries. Most of these were established for evaluation and multiplication of indigenous tree germplasm in domestication projects with national partners in the respective countries, explains Ramni Jamnadass. However, once projects were completed they tended to suffer from neglect, even though they still contain important genetic variation. The new grant will help the Centre to restore and expand these field genebanks and make better use of them to develop new cultivars for use on farmers fields.

Lab assistant Grace Nyambura conducting a seed germination test.



Herbal medicine: good for health, bad for the environment?According to the World Health Organization, 7080 per cent of people in developing countries use herbal medicines, with thousands of plant species many of them trees providing the raw material. However, despite their importance, there has been relatively little research on medicinal trees and shrubs.

Its not an easy subject to explore, says Stepha McMullin, a scientist with the World Agroforestry Centre. Transactions tend to be informal, the quantities and species traded dont appear in government statistics, and traders tend to lack formal education. Furthermore, there has been a paucity of research on the bio-chemical properties of species used in traditional health care.

To gain a better understanding of the trade in Kenya, McMullin conducted surveys in traditional medicine markets in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu, the largest cities in the country. Her study, published in 2012, provides one of the most comprehensive analyses to date of the use of medicinal trees and shrubs in Kenya and the impact of the trade on wild populations. 7

McMullin interviewed 91 traders. Between them, they were buying and selling bark, roots, leaves and other material harvested from 53 species of trees and shrubs. Some of these were bought and sold in relatively small quantities. However, others were traded in large amounts. These included Warburgia ugandensis, which is widely used as a cure for malaria, stomach ache and a variety of other ailments.

The vast majority of material sold in the markets came from wild harvesting, either by traders or collectors. Many traders said there had been a significant decline in the availability of many species during the two years prior to the study. The reasons varied, with 30 per cent citing overharvesting, 23 per cent changing environmental conditions and 19 per cent restrictions

on access. Almost two out of three traders said they no longer had enough material to satisfy demand.

McMullin also interviewed over 180 consumers while she was in the markets. Getting to the truth wasnt always easy. Many people are reluctant to speak about traditional medicines, especially in urban areas, because there is a stigma attached to their use, she says. The perception is that its more modern to use conventional medicine.

According to some of the medical doctors McMullin spoke to, this is a major concern. Although many were sympathetic to the use of traditional medicines, they were worried about the reluctance of patients to admit to their use. Potentially, combining traditional and conventional treatments could have a lethal effect, says McMullin. She suggests that consumers would be more willing to acknowledge their use of herbal medicines if traditional medicine was recognized as a legitimate form of health care by the government.

Overharvesting has reduced wild populations of Warburgia ugandensis, which has important antimalarial

properties.

7McMullin S, Phelan J, Jamnadass R, Iiyama M, Franzel S, Nieuwenhuis M.2012. Trade in medicinal tree and shrub products in three urban centres in Kenya. Forests, Trees and Livelihoods 21, 3: 188-206. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14728028.2012.733559

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McMullins research confirms what many suspected: the demand for medicinal trees and shrubs is leading to significant levels of overharvesting. The increasing rarity of Warburgia ugandensis, to give just one example, has led to it being classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species. Although some of the traders said that they were cultivating medicinal trees, this was happening on a very small scale, says McMullin.

Future research, she suggests, should focus on further evaluation of the threat to natural populations of priority species; on analysing value chains for sustainable production and marketing; and on assessing the economic and ecological benefits of cultivating medicinal trees and shrubs on smallholder farms.

A domestication primerDuring the last two decades, the World Agroforestry Centre has pioneered the practice of participatory tree domestication, and this has become one of the great agroforestry success stories. Scientists and farmers have worked together to bring wild trees out of the forests and onto farmland and develop superior, high-yielding varieties of indigenous trees like African plum, Bush mango and kola nut. This has helped to increase the incomes of tens of thousands of small-scale farmers in Africa, Latin America and Asia.

2012 saw the publication of Agroforestry Tree Domestication: A Primer. Its a sort of bible, says Ramni Jamnadass, one of the co-authors. It pulls together all the elements of domestication in ways which will be useful to universities, research institutes and extension agencies.

The primer consists of five modules on key topics related to tree domestication. These include basic principles; choosing the right tree; evaluating variation

within species; obtaining high-quality germplasm; and delivering the results to farmers. Written in a lively, non-technical language, and illustrated with case studies and photographs, the primer will be updated at regular intervals, providing readers with the latest information on the subject.

Medicinal plant traders in Kisumu.

Grafting cocoa in Papua, Indonesia

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The living earth


Linking life above ground with life belowBefore he joined the World Agroforestry Centre in 2010, Edmundo Barrios conducted extensive research on the Quesungual slash-and-mulch agroforestry system in Honduras. This involves farmers pruning trees interspersed among annual crops and spreading the green matter to decompose on the soil. Barrios found significantly higher concentrations of biological activity, more carbon and nutrients and greater availability of water in the soil under the influence of trees than in the soil in nearby fields without trees.

This and other studies confirm that trees can play a major role in maintaining and enhancing fertility by acting as a refuge for soil organisms, improving soil structure and increasing the supply and availability of nutrients. But which particular tree species, and what mixtures of species, do the most to promote biological activity in the soil? It is questions such as these that Barrios and his colleagues now seek to answer.

We are currently assessing the impact of trees on soil biodiversity at the landscape level, building on the soil and vegetation characterization work which has been done by the Africa Soil Information Service (AfSIS), says Barrios. This four-year project, which comes to an end in 2013, conducted a systematic evaluation of soil health at 61 sentinel sites in 21 countries. At random plots within each site, scientists took soil samples and recorded data on key plant and soil parameters, including erosion risk, tree cover and land use.

Working at sentinel sites in four countries Malawi, Kenya, Uganda and Mali Barrios and his colleagues have been sampling life below ground, thus adding another layer of information to the AfSIS data. Soil macro-organisms which are visible to the naked eye, such as earthworms and centipedes, are hand-sorted and taxonomically classified; micro-organisms are investigated using novel DNA fingerprinting techniques. This is providing scientists with a better understanding of the interactions between trees and soil biodiversity,

and the impact of trees on below-ground biological activity that is beneficial to agriculture.

Diggingdeeper

But the research doesnt end there. To evaluate the precise impact which particular tree species have on soil organisms, Barrios is enlisting the help of local farmers. At the Kiberashi sentinel site in Tanzania, scientists organized a workshop with seven local communities (See box: Blending local and scientific knowledge). The farmers were able to share their knowledge and experience with scientists on specific trees which were having an influence on biological activity below the soil either for better or for worse.

We then selected a number of plots for intensive sampling, and analysed soil biodiversity at various distances around and beyond these trees, says Barrios. At the time of going to press, the data was still being analysed, but Barrios is convinced that the information gathered here, and at other sites, will provide valuable guidance to farmers, national research and extension services, agricultural ministries, policymakers and others interested in soil health. Among other things, soil biodiversity information will act as an early warning system, providing evidence of degradation before it is visually obvious.

The research at the sentinel sites will also be useful for organizations and individuals who wish to manage landscapes for their ecosystem services. The more we know about the links between vegetation and the biological activity underpinning key soil functions, the easier it will be to evaluate the role specific landscapes play in sequestering carbon, storing clean water and controlling pests and diseases. Barrios stresses that this is work in progress. However, theres no doubt that we are gaining a much better understanding about the relationships between life above and below ground.


Blending local and scientific knowledgeIn May 2012, a five-day workshop organized by the World Agroforestry Centre, the Brazilian Agricultural

Research Corporation (Embrapa) and Mozambiques National Institute of Agronomic Research (IIAM) explored the benefits of linking local knowledge with scientific expertise when assessing soil health. Researchers, extension workers and some 50 farmers from eight communities in Rapale District used a methodological guide8 developed through a collaboration involving the World Agroforestry Centre, Embrapa and the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).

One of the aims of the guide is to provide tools

that facilitate communication between scientists and farmers, so they can develop a shared view about which soil fertility constraints should be tackled first, and what agroecology principles and integrated soil fertility management options should be used to address such constraints, says Edmundo Barrios.

The Mozambique workshop involved training on the systematic identification, classification and prioritization of local knowledge with farmers, and the use of tools to integrate local knowledge with science. Agroforestry is usually high on the list of options because it can simultaneously address several constraints, given its multifunctional character, says Barrios.

The workshop was part of a new South-South initiative, Fostering Knowledge Sharing for Integrated Natural Resource Management in Agricultural Landscapes of Southern Africa. This is funded by the Africa-Brazil Agricultural Innovation Marketplace and led by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and Embrapa. I think it was a huge success, says Barrios, and it was a good example of effective collaboration between Latin America and Africa.

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8Barrios E et al. 2012. InPaC-S: Participatory Knowledge Integration on Indicators of Soil Quality Methodological Guide. ICRAF, Embrapa, CIAT.

The living earth


In search of stable crop yields

As rural populations have increased in sub-Saharan Africa, the average size of land holdings has shrunk and soils have become exhausted through continuous cropping, with most small-scale farmers unable to afford mineral fertilizers. As a result, maize yields have stagnated at a meagre 1 tonne per hectare. This is one of the reasons why Africa suffers from such high levels of malnutrition.

But it neednt be like this. Research by the World Agroforestry Centre has shown that farmers can increase their yields, and improve soil fertility, by integrating leguminous trees in their cropping systems. Evidence suggests that the greatest response to the use of fertilizer trees is on nutrient-poor soils.

However, until recently little work had been done on the stability of these yields. Led by agro-ecologist Gudeta Sileshi, senior scientists from the Centre compared the stability of maize yields in three long-term trials in Malawi and Zambia under three different regimes: the maize-gliricidia systems promoted by the World Agroforestry Centre; monoculture maize grown with mineral fertilizers the option favoured by many better off farmers; and maize grown without either fertilizer trees or mineral fertilizers, the practice of most poor farming families.9

As expected, the intercropping of maize with gliricidia significantly increased maize yields when compared

with maize grown without any external inputs. At the Makoka research site in Malawi, for example, the green leaves and twigs of gliricidia added up to 302 kg of nitrogen per hectare per year. This is highly significant, bearing in mind that the average amount of nitrogen fertilizer used by African farmers is a meagre 10 kg per hectare.

The experimental plots of maize grown with mineral fertilizers also produced high yields. However, in contrast to the maize-gliricidia systems, yields were unstable in all three trials; in other words, they did not remain constant year after year. This highlights the fact that high yield is not necessarily an indicator of sustained productivity, says Sileshi. The application of mineral fertilizers without the addition of organic matter may fail to yield long-term benefits for farmers. Leguminous plants, in contrast, help to increase soil carbon, nourish living organisms in the soil and help to retain soil moisture.

This is the first study to analyse long-term trends in crop yield stability in cereal-legume associations in southern Africa. The research has some significant long-term implications for crop production and food security on the continent, says Sileshi. To get the best deal, farmers on poor soils should intercrop their maize with leguminous trees and use small doses of mineral fertilizer.

Maize intercropped with gliricidia

9Sileshi GW, Debusho LK, Akinnifesi FK. 2012. Can integration of legume trees increase yield stability in rain-fed maize cropping systems in southern Africa? Agronomy Journal 104:1392-1398.

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Water harvesting - what works and what doesntDuring the 1970s and 1980s, frequent droughts in sub-Saharan Africa stimulated an interest in small-scale water harvesting technologies. A great array of different initiatives were undertaken, frequently driven by non-governmental organizations and supported by drought-relief funds. However, there was relatively little collaboration, or sharing of knowledge, among the different projects.

Now, some 25 years on, water harvesting experts have revisited the subject. Their findings have been published in Water Harvesting in Sub-Saharan Africa, which pulls together research conducted under a four-year project funded by the EU.10 We looked at a total of 12 different water harvesting technologies that had been implemented 20 or more years ago to see which ones had worked best, and why, explains Maimbo Malesu of the World Agroforestry Centre.

Case studies included a wide array of different technologies, from the traditional za practice in Burkina Faso and Niger, which involves digging 20 cm deep pits to capture field run-off, to relatively large-scale farm ponds covering up to 1000 m in Ethiopia and Kenya. In each case, scientists used a methodology developed by the World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT) to assess the impact on crop productivity, livelihoods and the environment.

Certain technologies have stood the test of time, especially those which are knowledge-based, like the za pits in Niger, says Malesu. Because they require little or no capital, these practices have often spread over large areas. In contrast, capital intensive techniques involving large earth-moving equipment Malesu cites the case of tractor-built contour ridges in Baringo, Kenya have failed to move beyond the areas where they were introduced.

The books editors, John Gowing and William Critchley, suggest that water harvesting techniques have been successfully introduced when based on local traditions, and in places where governments have taken water harvesting seriously. The latter was the case for most countries studied, apart from Zimbabwe. Site visits which have enabled organizations and individuals to get first-hand experience of successful projects in other countries have also had a significant impact.

The study shows that successful water harvesting projects can have a major impact on small-scale farming communities, says Malesu. They lead to increases in crop productivity and higher incomes, which farming families can spend on education, health care and other activities that improve their well-being.

Rain water harvested in a pond in Machakos county, Kenya

10Critchley W, Gowing J (eds) 2012. Water Harvesting in Sub-Saharan Africa. Earthscan - Routledge

The living earth


Strengthening landcare in africaIn the late 1980s, a group of farmers in Victoria, Australia, realized that the soil erosion on their properties had become so severe that they needed to band together and tackle the problem collectively. This was the beginning of the Landcare movement, which has since spread to over 15 countries.

The World Agroforestry Centre acts as a Secretariat for Landcare International, which is chaired by the Centres former director general, Dennis Garrity. The Centre also plays a key role in providing coordination for the Africa Landcare Network. The precise nature of Landcare projects varies from one country to another, explains Mieke Bourne, an Australian environmental scientist who facilitates the Landcare Secretariat in Nairobi. But the principle is always the same: Landcare provides a framework to develop networks and strengthen community social action.

Landcare adds value to existing initiatives and programmes, many of which are run by local governments or NGOs. It works at the landscape level, frequently over large areas,

ICRAF 2012-13 Annual Report

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