Agroforesta: first agro-forestry research platform

• It brings together international and regional institutions and has made significant scientific contributions in technical journals and manuals, in the implementation of research projects, as well as at the higher education level.

November 2, 2021. Agroforesta is a platform that brings together regional and international institutions doing research and teaching on the subject of agro-forestry, with the purpose of contributing to increase the competitiveness and sustainability of agro-forestry systems with perennial crops in Mesoamerica, through the quantification, valuation and development of all potential environmental products and services, taking into account the scale of the farm or landscape and the effects of climate change. 

The platform was born from the will of CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center) and the Center for International Cooperation in Agricultural Research for Development (CIRAD), after two decades of collaborating with research in plantain and coffee cultivation and, later, in agro-forestry systems. Agroforesta is currently composed of five partners: the International Center for Research in Agro-forestry (ICRAF), the Bioversity International-CIAT Alliance and PROMECAFE, in addition to CATIE and CIRAD.

At the end of October, Agroforesta was evaluated by international experts, who highlighted that it is the first platform in agro-forestry and that it has had a significant scientific contribution in international journals, technical manuals, as well as in higher education.

In addition, they stressed that the partner base in the region is broad, with close complementarity with the main partners and, therefore, their achievements and experience in implementing research or development projects is very strong.

To arrive at these results, the experts evaluated the effectiveness of the platform's governance, openness to new partners and alliance with other networks, scientific strategy, communication, achievements in recent years (2015-2020), its impact and its scientific project for the coming years 2021-2027. 

Dominique Dessauw, researcher at CIRAD, based at CATIE, explained that the aim is to develop collaboration and achieve a higher level in research activities and their impact. "There is a Steering Committee with senior representatives of the partners and a coordination team. The Steering Committee is in charge of scientific governance, while the coordination team is responsible for motivation, administrative coordination, scientific animation and interdisciplinary synthesis activities," Dessauw explained.

As aspects to be improved, the evaluation indicated that the involvement of partners and membership in Agroforesta should be strengthened, as well as the participation of end users (producer families). It also pointed out the need to strengthen internal and external communication, using different modern means of communication, such as social networks, to provide greater visibility.

Finally, it was recommended that Agroforesta's geographic area be extended to Latin America and that new partners with experience in the thematic areas in which it should be expanded be incorporated, according to well-defined criteria.

Agroforesta is considered the largest collaborative agro-forestry network in the Americas; it contributes to improving the quality of life and income of many farming families in the region, protecting biodiversity and addressing the challenges of global changes, such as climate change.

For CATIE, Agroforesta is a cross-cutting research unit of its Directorate of Research for Inclusive Green Development, while for CIRAD the platform is part of its network of 21 collaborative platforms with partners.

If you are interested in learning more about this platform, its products and topics related to agro-forestry, please visit: https://agroforesta.org/