Agroforestry: An ancient ‘indigenous technology’ with wide modern appeal (commentary)

In Thailand, Prasert Tralkansuphakon, chair of Pgakenyaw Association for Sustainable Development and Inter Mountain People Education and Culture Association, explains that his Pgakenyaw (Karen) community manages land this way too. Agroforestry means ‘managed both by human and nature,’  or by humans in a natural way,” he says. “We make a living in three spaces: one is the space of residence, second is the space of farming and cultivation, and the third is a space of collecting food. Therefore, the concept of agroforestry produces both food and income in a traditional and innovative way, managed both by humans and nature, or [just] by humans, but in a natural way.”

On the other side of the world, a Lenca community in Honduras has formed a women’s cooperative that is growing fair trade organic coffee under timber and fruit-bearing trees like mango, plantain, and jackfruit. “Agroforestry is a way to increase food security. The diversity of the crops allows an increase in production of fruit and vegetables [that] could be interchanged with the other members of the community, or [for sale] to the market,” Mongabay’s reporter was told.

Antonella Cordone, senior technical specialist of indigenous peoples and tribal issues at the International Fund for Agricultural Development, believes the world must learn from such examples to create sustainable and integrated methods to manage agriculture and ecosystems in a multifunctional way. The approach her program has taken is based on appreciative inquiry, building on the skills and knowledge shared by indigenous agroforestry practitioners, and offering new ideas to bolster what they are already doing in an additive way. Cordone stated, “Specialists in modern agroforestry can help local communities to the extent they are able to listen to indigenous peoples and local communities and recognize that indigenous peoples’ knowledge is not inferior to formal science and technology.”

Roger Leakey, an author and agroforestry expert, agrees. When he was director of research at the World Agroforestry Centre—the top international NGO studying and training communities in agroforestry techniques—rather than taking a prescriptive approach, the organization developed a highly successful method of “participatory domestication,” a bottom-up approach that consisted of engaging with communities from day one to grow the species that they felt were the most beneficial to them.

Syed Ajijur Rahman, consultant at the Center for International Forestry Research in Bogor, Indonesia, agreed that in many ways, the communities know best: “The familiarity with their land, leading to careful selection  of sites for tree planting, together with good tree husbandry, results in high levels of tree establishment and growth rates.”