The Role Of Land Tenure In Agroforestry

This paper has been produced as a follow-up to the FAO guidelines "Advancing Agroforestry on the Policy Agenda - a guide for decision makers". The purpose of this document is to provide a review of the main tenure-related challenges that can affect agroforestry adoption to inform policies and project implementation. Drawing on practical cases, the document also presents measures and approaches which could potentially fuel the adoption of agroforestry, concluding with a number of specific recommendations for formulation and implementation of tenure policies promoting agroforestry.

The devastating environmental effects of deforestation and the exploitation of other natural resources in the developing world have been well documented, yet their impact on local communities has received far less attention. This volume fills this gap by looking at how land degradation and deforestation are being addressed at the local level, where households have experienced the reduction of farm size and the decline of natural resources. Through a comparison of Asia and Africa, Land Tenure and Natural Resource Management examines the evolution of land tenure institutions within diverse cultural, natural, and policy environments. Specific topics include the evolution of customary land tenure, the impacts of land tenure policies, and common property management. The editors conclude that the best strategy for managing land and forest resources lies in promoting the establishment of property rights and investment in the improvement of the natural resource base. Topics Include: Issues and Theoretical Framework; Quantitative Methodology; Agroforestry Management in Ghana; Agroforestry Management in Sumatra; Tree and Cropland Management in Malawi; Customary and Private Land Management in Uganda; Management of State Land and Privatization in Vietnam; Common Property Forest Management in the Hill Region of Nepal; Timber Forest Management in Nepal and Japan Toward New Paradigms of Land and Tree Resource Management.

An annoted bibliography on agroforestry.

Collaborative international research on tenure dates back at least to the early 1960s when the Land Tenure Centre was established at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and conducted some studies in collaboration with CGIAR social scientists. CGIAR interest in tenure increased in the early 1990s when natural resource management was strengthened as a component of the CGIAR agenda and the Centers on forests, agroforestry, and water (CIFOR, ICRAF, and IWMI) entered the system. CAPRi began to operate as a systemwide research program on tenure and collective action in the mid-1990s, and became PIM Flagship 5 on governance of natural resources in 2011. From 2021, a renewed research agenda on tenure is essential for advancing the One CGIAR mission of “science and innovation that advance transformation of food, land and water systems in a climate crisis.”