2 July 2013: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) has released its first agroforestry working paper, titled ‘Advancing Agroforestry on the Policy Agenda: A guide for decision-makers.’

The guide, developed in partnership with the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Centre (CATIE) and the Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD), is intended to support countries in their efforts to maximize the contribution of agroforestry to development.

To demonstrate good practices, the guide presents a number of case studies and best practice examples. It also provides an analysis of the development of national policies supporting agroforestry in order to identify lessons learned.

The guide specifically focuses on policy, legal and institutional development that supports the adoption of agroforestry techniques. In doing so, the publication highlights four critical conditions: benefits from agroforestry should be accrued by land users; land tenure must be clear and secure; coordination across relevant sectors is needed; and good governance systems for natural resources should be in place.

Based on the four critical conditions, the guide sets out ten areas for action including: raising awareness; instituting legal and regulatory reform; addressing land tenure and management issues; revising agricultural policies;, enhancing coordination; establishing payments for ecosystem services; strengthening market access; building stakeholder capacity and engagement; and improving governance. [Publication: Advancing Agroforestry on the Policy Agenda: A Guide for Decision-makers]