Dennis Garrity, Director General of the World Agroforestry Centre, made that statement in outlining the value of growing more trees on farmlands, especially in poverty-stricken areas.
Increasing trees on farmlands and the productivity of trees can positively affect food security and poverty and reduce climate change, according to findings from scientists.
More trees can increase the fertility of trees and increase income from the sale of timber.
This has great potential to help the poor people of the world. It is even being done in North Korea, one of the poorest countries. Agroforestry is a new but old practice but has yields many opportunities to help small farmers..
The World Agroforestry Centre today launched an Agroforestry Policy Initiative at the XXIII World Congress of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations in Seoul, Republic of Korea to support policy reviews and reforms that will stimulate agroforestry and benefit rural people.
"This Initiative will support national and local policy reforms that will reduce barriers and improve incentives for private investment in agroforestry," said Dennis Garrity, Director General of the World Agroforestry Centre.
Changing policies about growing trees can help farmers produce income and help bring them out of poverty, the Centre maintains. An example has taken place in Niger, where farmers have been growing new trees. The country has seen a large increase of trees on over 5 million hectares in the past 20 years.
The benefits from growing more trees is substantial. Trees can provide subsistence needs, people can earn money from the sale of their fruits, nuts, leaves, while producing animal fodder. There is high value oils, gums and resins, timber and fuelwood for cooking and medicines from different parts of trees.
Many people in Kenya earn their money from trees. Even in areas where tree cover is low, the impact of having them can be high, the Centre explains.
Agroforestry promises also to reduce future climate change according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Frank Place, Impact Assessment Advisor for the World Agroforestry Centre, tells us. "It is one of the most effective land use systems in storing carbon above and below ground."
August Temu, Director for Partnerships at the World Agroforestry Centre, said, in outlining the value of growing trees, "It is also vital to develop smarter and harmonized forestry and agriculture policies that do not inadvertently affect tree management on farms, to recognize the environmental services generated by agroforestry, and reward farmers who nurture the trees that provide these services."
