An introduction to agroforestry: Four decades of scientific developments

Abstract

Agroforestry - the practice of growing trees and crops in interacting combinations - is recognized the world over as an integrated approach to sustainable land-use. Agroforestry systems, being multifunctional, facilitate not only the production of food and wood products but also provide a variety of ecosystem services such as climate-change mitigation, biodiversity conservation, and soil quality improvement.