Development of agroforestry products in supporting peatland restoration and food security: A lesson from South Sumatra, Indonesia

Abstract

The agroforestry system has been widely presented as a model for land management to restore ecosystem function and, at the same time, increase people's income. The land cultivation system by combining forestry plants with agricultural crops is expected to attract people's interest to adopt and carry out planting on a wider scale. This paper aims to examine the development of agroforestry products in supporting peatland restoration and food security, as a lesson learned from South Sumatra. Field observation and stakeholder interviews were conducted to collect data to be analyzed descriptively. The result revealed that a relatively adaptive forestry plant that was developed on peatlands could produce timber and non-timber forest products. The community developed agroforestry system as their source on income and at the same tima can support peatland restoration. Unfortunately, the market of a certain product is currently unavailable. In addition, for other types of crops, the price will drop during the harvest season, making them less profitable. Therefore, diversification of products is needed as a solution for the community. In the future, the types of plants that are developed on peatlands must have prospective market access to benefit the community and improve the welfare of the people.