AN OVERVIEW OF GLOBAL AGROFORESTRY
SYSTEMS
Learning Objectives
- Classify major global agroforestry systems
- Explain key characteristics and examples of each system
- Understand ecological, economic, and social benefits
- Recognize traditional agroforestry practices in Ethiopia
Based on the nature of AF components; AF systems can
be classified in to three basic types of AF systems:
Agrisilvicultural systems
Silvopastural systems
Agrosilvopastural systems
Others agroforestry systems like:
• Aquaforestry( aquaculture)
• Entomoforestry ( apiculture,
sericulture)
1. Agrisilvicultural systems
Agrisilviculture - crops (including shrubs/vines) and
trees.
An agrisilvicultural system is used for food production
in the lowland humid tropics at a subsistence level of
production.
The word agrisilviculture stands only to those
combinations involving agricultural crops and trees
agrisilvicultural systems also used for soil conservation
and food production in tropical highlands
A. Shifting Cultivation
Traditional system with cycles of clearing, cropping, and
fallow.
Advantages: Maintains soil fertility naturally, supports
biodiversity.
Disadvantages: Unsustainable with population pressure.
Regions: Southeast Asia, Central Africa, Amazon Basin.
[Link]
Shifting cultivation & improved fallows
B. Improved Fallow
• Use of fast-growing nitrogen-fixing trees during fallow to
restore fertility.
• Examples: Sesbania sesban, Tephrosia vogelii.
• Benefits: Reduces fallow period, enhances soil organic
matter.
C. Taungya System
Trees and crops are grown together in early stages of
plantation establishment.
Advantages: Reduces plantation cost, provides food and
income. Examples: Teak–maize in Myanmar, Nigeria, and
India. [Link]
Home Gardens
Multi-strata system around homesteads combining trees,
shrubs, crops, and sometimes animals.
Examples: Southern Ethiopia.
Benefits: Year-round food supply, biodiversity conservation.
Multilayer Tree Gardens
o Trees planted in different canopy layers (tall trees + fruit
trees + shrubs + herbs).
o Examples: Cacao or coffee under shade trees in Central
America.
o Benefits: Efficient light use, soil conservation.
Plantation Crop Combinations
Integration of plantation crops with shade/support trees.
Examples: Coffee with Erythrina spp., Cocoa with
Gliricidia spp.
Advantages: Improved microclimate, erosion control.
Alley Cropping
Growing food crops between rows of trees/shrubs
(hedgerows).
Examples: Leucaena leucocephala, Gliricidia sepium.
Benefits: Soil fertility improvement, erosion control.
[Link]
Pampkins
Growing crops beneath palm fruit
Biomass Transfer
o Green biomass from trees applied to cropland as mulch.
o Example: Tithonia diversifolia leaves in East Africa.
o Benefits: Adds nutrients, improves soil structure.
Windbreaks and Shelterbelts
o Rows of trees/shrubs planted to reduce wind speed and
protect soil.
o Benefits: Prevents erosion, reduces evapotranspiration,
provides fuelwood.
Crops under Tree Cover
• Growing shade-tolerant crops under tree canopy.
• Examples: Coffee, cacao, ginger, turmeric.
• Benefits: Efficient land use, microclimate regulation.
Boundary Planting
• Trees planted along farm boundaries.
• Purpose: Mark boundaries, provide fuelwood and poles.
• Example: Grevillea robusta in Kenya.
2. Silvopastoral Systems
Systems combining trees, pastures, and livestock.
Functions: Provide shade, fodder, and improve pasture
productivity.
A. Protein Banks
• Planted stands of high-protein fodder trees.
• Examples: Leucaena leucocephala, Calliandra calothyrsus.
• Benefits: Improves animal nutrition, reduces overgrazing.
B. Trees and Shrubs on Rangelands
• Scattered trees retained or planted in grasslands.
• Examples: Acacia spp. in African savannas.
• Benefits: Improves soil, provides shade and fodder.
C. Live Fences for Fodder
• Living fences of fodder trees that also act as boundaries.
• Examples: Gliricidia sepium, Erythrina spp.
• Advantages: Boundary + feed source.
D. Plantation Crops with Pastures and Animals
• Integration of livestock with perennial crops.
• Examples: Cattle under coconuts (Sri Lanka), sheep in
rubber plantations (Malaysia).
3. Agrosilvopastoral Systems
Integrates trees, crops, and animals in one system.
Goal: Optimize productivity and sustainability.
A. Home Gardens
o Combination of fruit trees, vegetables, livestock, and fish
ponds.
o Example: Southeast Asian and Ethiopian home gardens.
B. Multipurpose Woody Hedgerows
Provide fodder, mulch, fuelwood, and boundaries.
Examples: Leucaena, Calliandra, Sesbania.
C. Multipurpose Woodlots
o Production of fuelwood, timber, poles, and fodder.
o Examples: Grevillea, Acacia, Eucalyptus plantations.
3. Others agroforestry systems
A. Apiculture
• Integration of beekeeping with trees.
• Tree species: Acacia, Eucalyptus, Grevillea, Citrus.
• Benefits: Pollination, honey, and wax income.
B. Aquaculture
• Trees integrated with fish ponds or wetlands.
• Examples: Trees on pond dikes, mangrove-fish systems.
C. Sericulture with Trees
• Integration of silk production with mulberry trees.
• Example: Morus alba leaves fed to silkworms.
• Practiced in: India, China, Thailand.
Traditional Agroforestry in Ethiopia
• Long history of tree integration into farms.
• Systems: Home gardens, parklands, boundary planting,
woodlots.