Compiled Media Coverage of 2nd World Congress of Agroforestry

77 Pages·2009·2.13 MB·English

Compiled Media Coverage of

2nd World Congress of Agroforestry

September 2, 2009

Prepared by:
Wires
Agencia EFE (Spain)
Asian News International (India)
Bloomberg
Greenwire
Indo-Asian News Service (India)
Panapress
Reuters
Reuters–French
Servimedia (Spain)
UN IRIN
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Xinhua News Agency—French (China)

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Kenya Times (2)
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Le Monde (France)
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Shanghai Daily (China)
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Environmental Data Interactive
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(Please note: full text for original articles is listed below)
WIRES

(Spain)

Un Estudio dice que la cubierta forestal de la mitad de tierras
agrícolas supera el 10%

Un estudio de imágenes satélite detalladas del Centro Mundial de Agrosilvicultura (ICRAF) demuestra
que prácticamente la mitad de todas las tierras agrícolas del mundo tienen una cubierta forestal
considerable, ya que revela que en más de 1.000 millones de hectáreas la cubierta forestal supera el
10%.

EFE- Así se ha puesto de manifiesto durante la inauguración del segundo Congreso Mundial de
Agrosilvicultura, que se celebra esta semana en Nairobi (Kenia).

En un comunicado, el ICRAF señala que en muchas investigaciones previas sobre agrosilvicultura se
han documentado diversos usos de los árboles en las explotaciones agrícolas para, entre otras cosas,
mejorar el rendimiento de los cultivos y la salud del suelo o para construir refugios y producir energía.

Los científicos del estudio han descubierto que aproximadamente 10 millones de kilómetros cuadrados
de tierras agrícolas contienen, como mínimo, un 10% de cubierta forestal, lo que incluye 3,2 millones de
kilómetros cuadrados en América del Sur, 1,9 en África al sur del Sahara y 1,3 en Asia sudoriental.

Según el estudio, se mantiene la convivencia de árboles y explotaciones en paisajes agrícolas de
prácticamente toda América Central y en, aproximadamente, un 80% de estas zonas en Asia sudoriental
y América del Sur.

La proporción es menor en África al sur del Sahara, Europa y América del Norte, donde los árboles son
una característica destacada en aproximadamente un 40% de las tierras agrícolas, mientras que en
América Central y Asia sudoriental más de la mitad de todas las tierras agrícolas tienen una cubierta
forestal del 30%.

Asimismo, los autores también hacen referencia en el estudio a "casos documentados" en los cuales
primero se talan los árboles para el desarrollo de la agricultura y después se vuelven a plantar, porque
los agricultores buscan aumentar su producción mediante árboles útiles que puedan generar ingresos o
proporcionar otros servicios, como proteger las cuencas hidrográficas.

Los expertos del ICRAF consideran que los agricultores, especialmente los de países en desarrollo,
adoptarían "más rápidamente" distintas prácticas de agrosilvicultura si en los planes internacionales de
lucha contra el cambio climático se tuvieran en cuenta sus árboles.

http://www.agroinformacion.com/noticias/31/forestal/19984/un-estudio-dice-que-la-cubierta-forestal-de-
la-mitad-de-tierras-agricolas-supera-el-10.aspx
Trees vital part of agricultural production worldwide

WASHINGTON - In a new study, scientists have used detailed satellite imagery to demonstrate that
almost half of all farmed landscapes worldwide include significant tree cover, which implies that trees are
a vital part of agricultural production.

The study, by scientists from the World Agroforestry Centre, reveals that on more than 1 billion hectares,
which make up 46 percent of the world’s farmlands and are home to more than half a billion people, tree
cover exceeds 10 percent.

“The area revealed in this study is twice the size of the Amazon, and shows that farmers are protecting
and planting trees spontaneously,” said Dennis Garrity, the Centre’s Director General.

“The problem is that policymakers and planners have been slow to recognize this phenomenon and take
advantage of the beneficial effect of planting trees on farms,” he added.

According to Garrity, trees are providing farmers with everything from carbon sequestration, to nuts and
fruits, to windbreaks and erosion control, to fuel for heating and timber for housing.

“Unless such practices are brought to scale in farming communities worldwide, we will not benefit from
the full value trees can bring to livelihoods and landscapes,” he said.

Previous estimates for the amount of farmland devoted to agroforestry have ranged from as low as
50,000 hectares to as high as 307 million hectares.

But, these estimates were not derived from detailed remote sensing data as was employed in this
assessment.

In this study, scientists were able to measure the amount of tree cover on each square kilometer of the
world’s 22.2 million square kilometers of farmland.

The scientists, who included researchers from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain
Development and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, found that about 10 million square
kilometers of agricultural land have at least 10 percent tree cover.

That includes 3.2 million square kilometers in South America, 1.9 million in sub-Saharan Africa and 1.3
million in Southeast Asia.

According to the report, “trees are an integral part of the agricultural landscape in all regions, except
North Africa and West Asia.”

“This study offers convincing evidence that farms and forests are in no way mutually exclusive, but that
trees are in fact critical to agricultural production everywhere,” said Professor Wangari Maathai, founder
of the Green Belt Movement. (ANI)
Unique acacia tree could nourish soils in Africa

Washington, August 25 (ANI): In a new research, scientists have said that a type of acacia tree with an
unusual growth habit, which is unlike virtually all other trees, holds particular promise for farmers in Africa
as a free source of nitrogen for their soils that could last generations.

With its nitrogen-fixing qualities, the tall, long-lived acacia tree, Faidherbia albida could limit the use of
fertilizers; provide fodder for livestock, wood for construction and fuel wood, and medicine through its
bark, as well as windbreaks and erosion control to farmers across sub-Saharan Africa.

According to scientists, the tree illustrates the benefits of growing trees on farms and is adapted to an
incredibly wide array of climates and soils from the deserts to the humid tropics.

"Growing the right tree in the right place on farms in sub-Saharan Africa-and worldwide- has the potential
to slow climate change, feed more people, and protect the environment," said Dennis Garrity, Director
General of the World Agroforestry Centre.

"This tree, as a source of free, organic nitrogen, is an example of that. There are many other examples of
solutions to African farming that exist here already," he added.

The Faidherbia acacia tree has the quality of "reverse leaf phenology," which drives the tree to go
dormant and shed its nitrogen-rich leaves during the early rainy season - when seeds are being planted
and need the nitrogen - and then to re-grow its leaves when the dry season begins and crops are
dormant.

This makes it highly compatible with food crops because it does not compete with them for light-only the
bare branches of the tree's canopy spread overhead while crops grow to maturity.

Their leaves and pods provide a crucial source of fodder in the dry season for livestock when other plants
have dried up.

The unique acacia tree is a frequent component of farming systems of Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso,
Niger, Chad, Sudan, and Ethiopia, and in parts of northern Ghana, northern Nigeria, and northern
Cameroon.

The tree is growing on over 4.8 million hectares of land in Niger. Half a million farmers in Malawi and in
the southern highlands of Tanzania grow the tree on their maize fields.

In Malawi, maize yields were increased up to 280 percent in the zone under the tree canopy compared
with the zone outside the tree canopy.

In Zambia, recent unpublished observations showed that unfertilized maize yields in the vicinity of the
Faidherbia trees averaged 4.1 tonnes per hectare, compared to 1.3 tonnes nearby but beyond the tree
canopy. (ANI)
http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-99001.html
Farmers That Plant Trees New Allies in Climate-Change Battle

By Jeremy van Loon

Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Farmers willing to plant trees to absorb carbon dioxide from industrial pollutants
as well as provide alternative sources of fuel are new potential allies in the fight against greenhouse-gas
emissions.

A study from the World Agroforestry Center in Nairobi, the first to assess global tree coverage on
farmland using satellite imagery, said more farmers need to understand the economic benefits of planting
trees. Almost half of the world’s total farmland has at least 10 percent tree-cover, researchers say.

Cutting down trees and letting them rot or burn accounts for about a fifth of the greenhouse-gas
emissions blamed for global warming, according to the United Nations International Panel on Climate
Change. In December, more than 180 countries will meet in Copenhagen to work on measures including
slowing deforestation and land management in a climate-change treaty.

Farmers are planting trees for a source of fruit and nuts, fuel from wood and wind breaks, with the
additional benefit of capturing carbon-dioxide gas that contributes to warming weather across the globe.
Trees draw CO2 from the air, using it to grow, then store the carbon in their leaves and wood.

“If planted systematically on farms, trees could improve the resiliency of farmers by providing them with
food and income,” said Tony Simons, deputy director-general of the World Agroforestry Center. “When
crops and livestock fail, trees often withstand drought conditions and allow people to hold over until the
next season.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeremy van Loon in Berlin at [email protected].
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601124&sid=a5sXkT0uLYEg
Half of global farmlands have tree cover -- study

August 24, 2009 Monday

Almost half of the world's total farmland has at least 10 percent tree-cover, according to a study released
today from the World Agroforestry Center in Nairobi.

"The area revealed in this study is twice the size of the Amazon, and shows that farmers are protecting
and planting trees spontaneously," said Dennis Garrity, director general of the center.

Tony Simons, deputy director general of the center, said the study revealed a way to combat climate
change. He suggested farmers would do more to preserve trees if they received credits under a proposed
United Nations climate agreement that will be discussed this December in Copenhagen (Alister Doyle,
Reuters, Aug. 23). -- JK
Farming does not reduce tree cover as much as thought earlier

Washington, Aug 24 (IANS) Satellite imagery has revealed that there is significant tree cover in nearly
half the farmed landscape worldwide, contrary to a belief that agriculture leads to massive deforestation.
It reveals that on more than one billion hectares — which make up 46 percent of the world’s farmlands
and are home to more than half a billion people — tree cover exceeds 10 percent. That includes 3.2
million sq km in South America, 1.9 million in sub-Saharan Africa and 1.3 million in Southeast Asia.

Scientists from the World Agroforestry Centre (WAC) using detailed satellite imagery have reported the
discovery.

This is the first study to quantify the extent to which trees are a vital part of agricultural production in all
regions of the world.

“The area revealed in this study is twice the size of the Amazon, and shows that farmers are protecting
and planting trees spontaneously,” WAC Director General Dennis Garrity said.

“Trees are providing farmers with everything from carbon sequestration, to nuts and fruits, to windbreaks
and erosion control, to fuel for heating and timber for housing,” he added.

“Unless such practices are brought to scale in farming communities worldwide, we will not benefit from
the full value trees can bring to livelihoods and landscapes,” Garrity added.

“If planted systematically on farms, trees could improve the resiliency of farmers by providing them with
food and income,” said Tony Simons, deputy director general at the WAC.

“Whilst Western Europe has some 250 native tree species and North America has a larger set of 600
trees species — the developing tropics has a staggering 50,000 tree species to manage and utilise,” said
Simons, according to a WAC release.

“For example, when crops and livestock fail, trees often withstand drought conditions and allow people to
hold over until the next season.
Wonder tree' may alleviate food scarcity in Africa

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - A World Agroforestry Congress held last week at the United Nations
Environmental Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, has of f ered some tree-planting
solutions to Africa's climate change and food scarcity p r oblems, PANA reported.

On Monday, Dennis Garrity, the Director General of the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), highlighted
some of the centre's most recent research, which is design e d to increase maize production in Africa by
up to four times by planting trees t h at act as organic fertilizers.

"We have evidence of how maize yields have doubled and tripled for smallholders, without an overall
increase in labour or the need to apply nitrogen fertilizers , " said Garrity.

Garrity had earlier told the Congress the secret to higher maize yields lay in a tree called Faidherbia,
which has a special nitrogen-fixing property and an unu s ual habit known as "reverse leaf phenology".

Unlike other trees, Faidherbia sheds its leaves and goes dormant during the earl y rainy season.

Its leaves grow again only in the dry season, meaning that it is extremely compa tible with food crops
because it does not compete with them for water, nutrients

or light.

According to the Agroforestry Centre, farmers in Malawi testify the tree is like a "fertilizer factory in the
field", as it takes nitrogen from the air, fixes i t in the leaves and subsequently incorporates it into the soil.

The Agroforestry Centre's research showed that in Malawi, maize yields increased by 280 per cent in the
zone under the tree canopy, compared with the zone outsi d e the tree canopy.

Similarly, in Zambia, unfertilized maize yields in the vicinity of Faidherbia tr ees averaged 4.1 tonnes per
hectare, compared to 1.3 tonnes nearby but beyond th e tree canopy.

The latest research has been welcomed by Kenyan officials, environmentalists and agronomists at a time
when the Eastern African country is seeking emergency foo d aid in order to prevent widespread famine.

Maize is the staple food for many African countries, but when grown as a mono-cr op over many years, it
drains the soil of vital nutrients.

On average, maize yields on the 27 million hectares on which it is grown in Afri ca are one tenth the
equivalent of American yields.

One of the reasons is limited use of fertilisers, but experts said the Faidherbi a tree - pending some
further research on its impact on the water table - may no w provide a natural and widespread fertiliser fix.