FTA Highlights 7
FTA Highlights 7
2011-2021
Trees on Farms to
Improve Livelihoods
and the Environment
Ten years of
forests, trees and agroforestry
research in partnership for
sustainable development
About the FTA Highlights series
This publication is part of a series that highlights the main findings, results and achievements of
the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA), from 2011 to 2021 (see
full list of chapters on the last page).
FTA, the world’s largest research for development partnership on forests, trees and agroforestry,
started in 2011. FTA gathers partners that work across a range of projects and initiatives,
organized around a set of operational priorities. Such research was funded by multiple sources:
CGIAR funders through program-level funding, and funders of bilateral projects attached to the
programme, undertaken by one or several of its partners. Overall this represented an effort of
about 850 million USD over a decade.
The ambition of this series is, on each topic, to show the actual contributions of FTA to research
and development challenges and solutions over a decade. It features the work undertaken as
part of the FTA program, by the strategic partners of FTA (CIFOR-ICRAF, The Alliance of
Bioversity and CIAT, CATIE, CIRAD, Tropenbos and INBAR) and/or with other international
and national partners. Such work is presented indifferently in the text as work “from FTA” and/
or from the particular partner/organization that led it. Most of the references cited are from the
FTA program.
This series was elaborated under the leadership of the FTA Director, overall guidance of an
Editorial Committee constituted by the Management Team of FTA, support from the FTA
Senior Technical Advisor, and oversight of the FTA Independent Steering Committee whose
independent members acted as peer-reviewers of all the volumes in the series.
F TA HIGHL IG H T S OF A DE CA DE 2011–2021
Trees on Farms to Improve Livelihoods and the Environment
© 2021 The CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA)
DOI: 10.17528/cifor/008217
Somarriba E, López-Sampson A, Sepúlveda N, García E and Sinclair F. 2021. Trees on Farms to Improve
Livelihoods and the Environment. FTA Highlights of a Decade 2011–2021 series. Highlight No. 7. Bogor,
Indonesia: The CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA).
T +62-251-8622-622
E [email protected]
foreststreesagroforestry.org
We would like to thank all funding partners who supported this research through their contributions to the
CGIAR Fund. For a full list of the ‘CGIAR Fund’ funding partners please see: http://www.cgiar.org/our-
funders.
Any views expressed in this publication are those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the
views of The CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA), the editors, the authors’
institutions, the financial sponsors or the reviewers.
FTA H I G H LIGHTS OF A DECA DE
2011-2021
Trees on Farms to
Improve Livelihoods
and the Environment
Lead authors: Eduardo Somarriba
FTA Director
Vincent Gitz
Acknowledgements
Thanks are due to all the FTA scientists who kindly provided key relevant information
and published material and useful insights, all of which facilitated the production
of this publication. We are grateful to the support received throughout the 10 years
covered in this report from all the FTA donors. We also thank the Trees on Farms
for Biodiversity Project (TonF) (https://treesonfarmsforbiodiversity.com), and
CATIE (Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza), Costa Rica
for their support.
Table of contents
Executive summary................................................................. 4
1. Introduction......................................................................... 6
References................................................................................ 39
List of acronyms
Executive summary
Trees are found in forests and outside the forest. Trees outside the forest are
located in urban areas, on farms, and in natural plant formations that do not
conform to the definition of forest (e.g. those in arid environments that do not
meet minimum tree cover thresholds). Trees on farms (TonF) are dispersed
in pastures or crop fields, in linear features (live fences, windbreaks, farm
boundaries and internal divisions, on the sides of roads and watercourses),
in patches or in regular plantation arrangements, solitary or in groups,
with regular or variable density. Numerous studies have documented the
abundance and importance of TonF to farmers’ livelihoods and to the
environment. However, TonF are: 1) “invisible” to and absent from the legal/
institutional/policy/value chains/education/rural extension frameworks of
most countries; and 2) suboptimally designed and managed. These factors
prevent farmers, the private sector, and governments from fully realizing the
potential of trees on farms.
This publication shows how the advances achieved by the joint work of FTA
and the Trees on Farms for Biodiversity project in Nicaragua and Honduras
were used to: 1) increase the visibility of trees in live fences on cattle ranches
in the Honduran national information system on forest resources, and in both
national reporting systems and sectoral development programmes for the
cattle ranching sector; and 2) develop the knowledge and science-based tools
needed to improve the design and management of trees in the shade canopy
of agroforestry systems for cocoa and coffee. Increasing the visibility of
trees on farms, and mainstreaming them in public policies and development
initiatives, require that salient, science-based knowledge be generated, shared
1. Introduction
In 2012, CGIAR’s Research Program on Forest, Trees and Agroforestry
(FTA) established a network of Sentinel Landscapes (SLs).1 The goal was to
conduct long-term research using standardized methodologies in order to
understand (and improve) the temporal and spatial dynamics of land use,
trees and forests in selected areas. The SL initiative included eight observatory
landscapes around the globe that represented widely different biophysical
and socioeconomic contexts. The SL initiative spanned 10 years, from 2012
to 2021.
Four central research questions were addressed in each SL, using standardized
methodologies and datasets:
1
https://doi.org/10.17528/CIFOR/DATA.00021.
Figure 1. The Nicaragua-Honduras Sentinel Landscape (NHSL): land use and vegetation.
This publication shows that forests, trees outside the forest (TOF), trees on
farms (TonF), and agroforestry systems are part of the same continuum.
Sometimes this is a zero-sum situation, with deforestation increasing the
presence of both TOF and TonF. Research shows (Somarriba et al. 2017) that
TonF are ubiquitous and very important for livelihoods and the environment,
but are “invisible” in the sense that they are absent from the legal,
institutional, policy and education frameworks of most countries.
Continental
water bodies
Other
Forests Other lands
wooded lands
With trees
Without trees
(TOF)
Natural plant
Farms Urban
formations
Non-
agroforestry
systems
Farmers retain, recruit or plant trees on farms because they are useful. TonF
contribute to food and nutritional security (Almendarez et al. 2013; Saenz-
Tijerino 2012; Thapa et al. 2021); generate income (Cerda et al. 2014); and
provide ecosystem services as well as aesthetic and cultural benefits. In Latin
America, half of the rural population use TonF for subsistence and income
(Dewees 2013). For instance, shade trees in cocoa plantations provide energy,
vitamins and micronutrients that improve family nutrition (Figure 3) and help
families to avoid seasonal food shortages (Somarriba et al. 2017).
Bactris gasipaes
Tamarindus indica
Artocarpus communis
Acrocomia vinifera
Cocus nucifera
Mammea americana
Psidium guajava
Pouteria sapota
Syzygium malaccense
Mangifera indica
Citrus reticulata
Carica papaya
Citrus limona
Manilkara chicle
Meliccocus bijugatus Vitamin A
Musa AAA Vitamin A
Citrus aurantium (x paradisi) Fe (Iron) and Zn (Zinc)
Citrus (maxima x reticulata) Proteins and carbohydrates
Citrus sinensis Vitamin C
Citrus (x limeta)
Annona muricata
Persea americana Folic acid missing
Licania platypus
Bixa orellana
Euclidean distance
Figure 3. The contribution of fruit tree species in the shade canopy of cocoa agroforestry systems to the nutritional
security of rural families in the Nicaragua-Honduras Sentinel Landscape (NHSL), Waslala, Nicaragua.
Shade canopy trees contribute 30% or more of the value of all the goods
(cocoa, coffee, fruits, timber, firewood, posts, etc.) produced by a cocoa/coffee
agroforestry plantation (Pinoargote et al. 2016; Cerda et al. 2014; Jezeer et al.
2017, 2018). The relative contribution of trees to farmers’ livelihood depends
on the design of the agroforestry system (Figure 4). Evidence supports the
benefits of the intermediate-density hypothesis put forward by researchers
in cocoa and whole farming systems in Africa (Ilstedt et al. 2016; Ruf 2011).
According to those authors, optimal agroforestry production is achieved in
agroforestry systems that are neither too simple nor too complex in terms
of botanical composition, plant density, and vertical and horizontal spatial
complexity.
2400 b
2200
2000
1800
1600 FB_Timber/ha
1400
1200
a FB_Fruits/ha
1000 a a FB_Banana/ha
800 FB_Cacao/ha
600
400
200
0
Complexity
- +
Figure 4. Family benefit (FB) from cocoa agroforestry systems with different shade canopy complexity in Central
America
Note: Adapted from Cerda et al. 2014; columns with different letters are statistically different
Mixed cropping
vegetables and food
crops under scattered
fruit trees in Jamaica
Figure 5. Trees on farms in the Nicaragua-Honduras Sentinel Landscape (NHSL), El Guabo, Waslala municipality,
Nicaragua
Value timber (USD per ha) 4,910 ± 1325 a 7,473 ± 1,554 a 6,192 0.08
Firewood (mg per ha) 11.1 ± 2.3 a 11.7 ± 2.8 a 11.4 0.8
Oranges (units per ha per year) 3,324 ± 475 b 5,468 ± 601 a 4,486 0.03
Other fruits (1) (units per ha per year) 5,997 ± 690 a 3,824 ± 486 b 4,910 0.03
Other fruits (2) (per kg per ha per year) 162 ± 45 b 314 ± 70 a 238 0.03
Adapted from Amores Contreras 2015
Note: Fruits (1) are fruit species (other than oranges) sold by unit. Fruits (2) are fruit species (other than
oranges) sold by weight. Means with different letters in the same row are statistically different.
Trees on farms are also good for the environment, helping to conserve soil
and water (Ilstedt et al. 2016), sequester atmospheric carbon (Griscom et
al. 2017; Thapa et al. 2021; Zommer et al. 2014), and contribute to the
conservation of threatened and ecologically valuable and wild biodiversity
(Table 2).
• 47 families
• 209 species / 759 [McKewy-Mejia M and
Zelaya-Alberto CA (2005)]
• 28% of all bird species in Honduras
• 160 R (76.56%)
• 35 species M (16.75%)
• 12 species R + M (5.74%)
• 2 species T (0.96%)
2
This is coffee planted under heavily thinned natural forest.
40
p = 0.003
35
a
30
ab
Carbono (Mg/ha)
25
20 b
15
10 C
0
C1 C2 C3 C4
Café Frutales Maderables Servicio Musaceas
Figure 7. Carbon in aboveground biomass in open-sun (C1) and various types of coffee agroforestry systems (C2-C4), El
Tuma – La Dalia and Rancho Grander municipalities, Nicaragua – Honduras Sentinel Landscape (NHSL), Matagalpa,
Nicaragua
Adapted from Pinoargote et al. 2016; columns with the same letter are not statistically different
Erythrina poeppigiana
and bananas as shade
over Coffea arabica in
Turrialba, Costa Rica.
Photo by xxxxx
The abundance of TonF and the important roles that they play in rural
livelihoods and environmental management are increasingly being recognized
(Yadav 2019; Schnell et al. 2015a; Thapa et al. 2021; Thomas et al. 2021;
Bolyn et al. 2019). However, TonF are still largely absent from global
initiatives (such as REDD+, FAO/FRA, UN conventions on biological
diversity and on water) and in national agendas.
3
Non-Annex 1 countries under the Kyoto Protocol are developing countries that do not have legally binding emission
reductions targets.
TonF are also missing from national agendas. For instance, TonF are poorly
represented or superficially treated in the legal, institutional, policy and
development frameworks of most countries. In addition, TonF are missing
from the curricula of national universities, technical institutes, and farmer
field schools. TonF information is rarely included in the training curricula of
rural extension agents, and consequently is missing from their technical advice
to farmers (Somarriba et al. 2017). TonF are also absent from most National
Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs).
This invisibility of TonF, and their absence from legal, institutional, policy,
development, educational and business frameworks, may be the main reason
for the poor development of the value chains of farm tree products (notably,
farm timber and fruits), and the suboptimal design and management of TonF
on most farms. The unrealized potential of TonF production also reduces the
impact of many sustainable rural development initiatives.
Section 4 illustrates how the joint efforts of FTA partners and other associated
partners within the TonF project,4 especially the CATIE-led component in
Nicaragua and Honduras, contributed to realizing the potential of trees on
farms along two major impact pathways.
4
The TonF project is funded by the German International Climate Initiative (IKI) and implemented by World Agroforestry
(ICRAF), the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), CATIE, the International Union for Conservation of
Nature (IUCN), and the Leibniz University of Hannover.
al. 2005). Cattle ranches in Honduras are no exception (Otárola et al. 1985).
Live fences divide pastures and regulate the movement of animals; rotational
grazing is one of the most important management practices to intensify cattle
ranching. Live fences produce posts (to rehabilitate existing fences or create
new ones), fodder, firewood, timber, fruits, habitat for wildlife and structural
connectivity in the landscape (Harvey et al. 2005; Chacón and Harvey 2007).
Live fences play an important role in landscape restoration, especially in
restoring connectivity among forest fragments in agricultural landscapes
(Francesconi et al. 2011). For more information about research work on forest
and landscape restoration conducted within FTA, see FTA Highlight No.4 in
this series (Guariguata et al. 2021).
Figure 8. A typical scenario in the Catacamas landscape, Honduras. Live fences are common features in valleys and hills
in both pasture lands and crop fields.
Figure 9. Tree line features in one (5 km x 5 km) sample quadrat in the Catacamas landscape, Olancho, Honduras.
The production potential of live fences is enormous. It has been shown that
the timber yield from 1 km of live fence is equivalent to the yield of 1 ha
(or more) of a pure, block, timber plantation (Somarriba et al. 1999). The
potential for timber production from live fences in the 2.9 million ha of
pastures in Honduras, with a linear density of 69.21 m/ha, is equivalent
to 200,709 ha of pure, block, timber plantations. Fencing allows
farmers to regulate grazing and thus to control pasture
growth and animal yield. Fencing is expensive,
but live fences are cheaper to establish
than dead-post fences. Including live
fences in national inventories and
official data repositories can help
governments develop policies and
official reports and reinforce the
private sector by supporting
farmers and other value
chain actors.
Source: Unpublished data, ongoing joint research by FTA and TonF project
1. increased inclusion of live fences and other linear tree features (such as
gallery forests)5 in SIGMOF, the national information system on forests
and tree resources;
2. inclusion of live fences in national reports of the Ministry of Environment
and Natural Resources (the Biodiversity Directorate, or Dirección
Nacional de Biodiversidad/DIBio) to UN conventions (biological diversity
and climate change, and the Decade on Landscape Restoration), and
national government reports;
3. introduction of farm-level innovations on live fences in the list of
best practices supported by the livestock NAMA programme, to be
implemented starting in 2022;
4. engagement with other projects and government initiatives to scale up
innovations on live fences developed in the Catacamas landscape to other
cattle ranching regions and sectors in Honduras.
5
A gallery forest is a forest that grows along a watercourse.
A theory of change for these developments is shown in Figure 10. For more
information about theory of change conducted within FTA, see Highlight
No. 17 in this series (Belcher et al. 2021). A group of FTA, TonF project and
CATIE scientists, in close consultation with their academic counterparts
(CATIE´s graduate school, national universities, and research groups, notably
Universidad Nacional de Agricultura and Universidad Zamorano) and with
political support from leaders in the government and private sector, developed
the methodologies and tools to scientifically assess the extent of forests, trees
on farms, and bird biodiversity (as an indicator) in the Catacamas landscape.
Live fences were assessed using remote sensing and drone-based methods and
software specifically designed for this initiative, complemented by farm-level
field inventories. Science-based biophysical knowledge — coupled with expert
knowledge and a behavioural economic tool, COMMOD, an agent-based
modeling environment (Étienne 2014) — was used to design innovations using
participatory methods in live fences, to be included in the livestock NAMA
initiative.
Figure 10. Elements of
impact pathways to enable
VISIBILITY farmers, government,
TonF visibility in Hondura’s official and the private sector in
national information system on forest
and other natural resources: Honduras to fully realize
FARMING • ICF-SIGMOF the potential of treed live
NAMA-Livestock initiative includes: fences on cattle ranches.
Extension Services:
1. Zamorano University
2. UNAG - National University of Agriculture
VISIBILITY
and Livestock
3. HEIFER International
4. Honduran Dairy Chamber (CAHLE)
REPORTING
5. Honduran Meat Chamber (CAFOGAH)
NG
6. Livestock Federation of Southern Honduras
AMO S COM
(FEGASURGH) ION OLDER MU
• Ministry of Environment, National Directorate for
7. Ministry of Agriculture, Directorate for EH
KEY DINAT
REPORTING
FARMING
NIC
ATIO
COOR
M A CE
ID
ILI
LIN G O U T
1. National Platform for a Sustainable
Livestock Sector (PNGS, multi-sectoral,
involves 16 institutions)
2. SAG (Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock)
3. MiAmbiente
4. FAO
5. FENAGH
Note: ICF = Instituto Nacional de
MRV:
Conservación y Desarrollo Forestal/National
1. Ministry of Forestry (ICF-SIGMOF)
2. MiAmbiente (DNCC and DIBIO) SCALING OUT Institute for Conservation and Forest
3. SAG
4. ZAMORANO University 1. Producers, organizations and Development, Protected Areas, and Wildlife;
4. CATIE sectoral institutions: DIBio = Dirección Nacional de Biodiversidad
• IHCAFE (coffee)
Implementation in farms: • PROCACAOH (cacao) (National Biodiversity Directorate), Ministry of
• Agreement CATIE-DEITSUR project • PROSACAO (cacao) Environment; IHCAFE = Honduras’ national
• Agreement CATIE-ABC (American Bird • FENAGH (livestock)
Conservency) • FEGASURH coffee institute; MNGS = Mesa Nacional
• Agreement ICF-FENAGH de Ganadería Sostenible (Roundtable on
2. National Platform
for sustainable livestock sector Sustainable Livestock Production); NGOs =
(PNGS): design and promote policy non-governmental organizations; SIGMOF
for sustainable livestock sector
= Sistema de Información para la Gestión
3. Executive Secretary y Monitoreo Forestal/National information
Central American
Agriculture-Livestock Council system on forests and tree resources
(SE-CAC): scaling out to other
Central American countries
The project specifically targeted the inclusion of TonF data from the
pilot (Catacamas agricultural landscape, representing 2.9 million ha of
pasturelands in Honduras) in the national information system on forests,
biodiversity, and climate change (SIGMOF), and helped the National
Institute for Conservation and Forest Development, Protected Areas, and
Wildlife (ICF) staff to develop the software and code, modify the webpage,
Cattle grazing
under Pinus
elliottii in Misiones,
Argentina.
and the national banking system. The project team succeeded in including
innovations on live fences in the list of best practices supported by the NAMA
initiative and developed (with some components still under development) the
knowledge base on promising live fence designs and management that would
increase financial returns from livestock and tree products while conserving
wild biodiversity, storing significant amounts of carbon in woody biomass,
and reducing emissions and the carbon footprint of livestock farming in
Honduras. On-farm innovations will be implemented on 1,200 farms in
the next five years, and an additional 10,000 farmers are expected to adopt
similar innovations, with support from the NAMA initiative and funding from
national financial institutions.
The use of shade trees in cocoa cultivation varies widely among producer
countries (Table 4). Cocoa agroforestry systems are classified in at least
six broad typologies (Somarriba and Lachenaud 2013) that reflect the
management objectives of the farmer:
Country Cocoa
Brazil 720,053 93 7
Ghana 1,683,765 25 75
Ecuador 537,410 20 80
Colombia 173,016 75 25
Adapted from Somarriba and López-Sampson 2018; Note: * = some uncertainty re data
Pollarded Erythrina
poeppigiana trees used
as shade over Coffea
arabica, Turrialba,
Costa Rica.
100
90
80
Percentage of correct answers
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
Figure 11. Percentage of cocoa farmers in Alto Beni, Bolivia, who gave the right answer to critical questions influencing
decisions on the selection of the best shade level in a cocoa farm.
The central goal was optimizing the design of the coffee or cocoa shade
canopy to meet farmers’ production priorities. Success in achieving this
goal can increase the prominence of coffee and cocoa agroforestry systems
in farmers’ livelihood strategies and in global initiatives addressing climate
change, biodiversity loss and degradation of natural resources (e.g. water and
soil). The use of shade in coffee and cocoa cultivation is at risk due to both
the current wave of crop intensification to achieve higher yields and
the replacement of coffee and cocoa by other less ecologically
friendly but more profitable crops (Harvey et al. 2021;
Orozco-Aguilar et al. 2021; Somarriba and
López-Sampson 2018).
Figure 12. A schematic depiction of the components and interactions between components in an idealized
cocoa agroforestry system model.
Trees are bigger and taller than coffee and cocoa plants, and tree crowns, in
their privileged position, are the first to capture solar radiation, depriving the
leaves of the crop in the understorey of light. Shading is a central interaction
between trees and crops in coffee/cocoa agroforestry systems. There is no
single recipe for the ideal shade canopy. A four-step methodology has been
developed to systematically decide on the best course of action to achieve
optimal shade (Somarriba et al. 2018). In this methodology, farmers (and
extension agents) systematically evaluate almost 30 key variables (Table 5).
6
www.shademotion.net.
in any place on Earth (Figure 13). This software allows users to simulate
the entire life cycle of an agroforestry plantation (including changes in the
populations and dimensions of the trees due to natural growth or pruning).
It has a good 3-D visualization module, and offers new results and summaries
of shade data (Somarriba et al. 2020).
7
https://gitlab.com/tonfanalyzer/tonf_analyzer.
8
An orthomosaic is a large, extremely detailed image with high detail level obtained by combining many smaller images,
called “ortophotos.”
Figure 14. TonFanalyzer, a drone-based tool to assess tree stands in cocoa agroforestry systems
5.Conclusions and
recommendations
FTA’s and the German International Climate Initiative’s TonF research-
in-development project in the Nicaragua-Honduras Sentinel Landscape
provided science-based evidence on the extent of trees in live fences and other
tree linear features on cattle ranches and on their value to both livelihoods
and the environment in Catacamas, Honduras. Engagement with key political
and technical partners in government institutions (Ministry of Environment,
and Ministry of Forestry/ICF), and with leaders in the livestock private
sector, allowed the project to increase the inclusion of trees on farms (TonF)
in the national information system on forests and tree resources in Honduras
(SIGMOF) and convinced the Ministry of Environment and Natural
Resources to include TonF in its national report to the UN Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD), emphasizing the role of TonF in the country’s
strategy for biodiversity conservation. Project team members supported
negotiations with the private sector and succeeded in including innovations in
live fences in the portfolio of technologies to be supported (both technically
and financially) by the livestock NAMA initiative. Other Honduran
stakeholders have shown their willingness to replicate the work conducted
in Catacamas in other regions and production sectors (e.g. coffee and staple
crops such as maize and beans). Scaling up the work in Catamacas will foster
the intent of DIBio to use TonF as a sound strategy for the conservation of
biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. The role of TonF in addressing climate
change and forest landscape restoration programs is also being considered by
the Honduran government.
Most agroforestry
systems on farm are
suboptimal in design
and yield, limiting their
potential to improve
livelihoods and provide
ecosystem services. The
work on this project
provided new concepts,
models and tools to
optimize the design
and management
of cocoa and coffee
agroforestry systems.
These concepts, models
and tools are applicable Timber trees in
to other agroforestry crop fields, Heredia,
Costa Rica.
systems as well. More
Photo by Eduardo Somarriba
effort is needed to test
these tools in a range of
biophysical and cultural
contexts. Special attention
should be given to including the new
knowledge and tools in the university curricula (faculties of agronomy, animal
production, forestry, agricultural economics, etc.), in the messages delivered
by extension agents, and in farmer field schools.
Farmers:
• Extension agents should aim to create a culture among farmers to
consider TonF as crops
Policymakers
• Design and enforce supportive legislation (e.g. on tenure rights), policies
and financial mechanisms to stimulate farmers to plant, tend and use/sell
trees on their farms
• Simplify regulations and procedures to harvest, transport and use farm
timber
Academia
• Develop sustainable intensification approaches that preserve trees in the
shade canopy
• Include trees on farms in the curricula of universities, extension agencies
and farmer field schools
Heavily pruned
Grevillea robusta
trees in tea (Camellia
sinensis) fields, Kenya.
References
Agrawal A, Cashore B, Hardin R, Shepherd G, Benson C and Miller D. 2013. Economic
contributions of forests: Present and Future. Background paper prepared for the United Nations Forum on
Forests. https://www.un.org/esa/forests/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/AHEG2_Econ_
Dev_Agrawal.pdf.
Amores Contreras FM. 2015. Contribución de los árboles en finca a los medios de vida de familias
rurales en dos sitios contrastantes de Nicaragua. Magister Scientiae, CATIE, Turrialba, Costa
Rica. https://repositorio.catie.ac.cr/handle/11554/8470.
Baffetta F, Corona P and Fattorini L. 2011. Assessing the attributes of scattered trees
outside the forest by a multi-phase sampling strategy. Forestry 84(3):315–325.
https://doi.org/10.1093/forestry/cpr015.
Belcher BM, Coccia F, Rouge J-C and Gotor E. 2021. Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and
Impact Assessment. FTA Highlights of a Decade 2011–2021 series. Highlight No. 17. Bogor,
Indonesia: The CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA).
https://doi/org/10.17528/CIFOR/008227.
Canu FA, Wretlind PH, Audia I, Tobar D and Andrade HJ. 2018. NAMA for a low carbon
and climate resilient livestock sector in Honduras. NCF, UNEP DTU, CATIE. https://orbit.dtu.
dk/en/publications/nama-for-a-low-carbon-and-climate-resilient-livestock-sector-in-h.
de Foresta H. 2017. Where are the trees outside forests in Brazil? Pesquisa Florestal Brasileira
37(91):393–401. https://doi.org/10.4336/2017.pfb.37.91.1390.
Dobie P, Zinngrebe Y, Vidal A, Gassner A and Kumar C. 2019. Trees on farms as a nature-
based solution for biodiversity conservation in agricultural landscapes. Policy considerations and proposed
indicators focused on trees on farms for an enhanced new Aichi Biodiversity Target 7. Nairobi: ICRAF.
https://www.worldagroforestry.org/publication/trees-farms-nature-based-solution-
biodiversity-conservation-agricultural-landscapes.
Étienne MC. ed. 2014. Companion modelling: A participatory approach to support sustainable
development. Versailles: Editions Quae. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8557-0.
Griscom BW, Adams J, Ellis PW, Houghton RA, Lomax G, Miteva DA, Schlesinger
WH, Shoch D, Siikamäki JV, Smith P, et al. 2017. Natural climate solutions. PNAS
114(44):11645–11650. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1710465114.
Harvey CA and Haber WA. 1998. Remnant trees and the conservation of biodiversity in
Costa Rican pastures. Agroforestry Systems 44(1):37–68.
https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006122211692.
Jezeer RE, Santos MJ, Boot RGA, Junginger M and Verweij PA. 2018. Effects of shade
and input management on economic performance of small-scale Peruvian coffee systems.
Agricultural Systems 162:179–190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2018.01.014.
Jezeer RE, Verweij PA, Santos MJ and Boot RGA. 2017. Shaded coffee and cocoa –
double dividend for biodiversity and small-scale farmers. Ecological Economics 140:136–145.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.04.019.
Liknes GC, Perry CH and Meneguzzo DM. 2010. Assessing tree cover in agricultural
landscapes using high-resolution aerial imagery. Journal of Terrestrial Observation 2(1):38–55.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/34796.
Linkimer M. 2001. Árboles nativos para diversificar cafetales en la zona Atlántica de Costa Rica.
[MSc thesis]. Turrialba, Costa Rica: CATIE.
https://repositorio.catie.ac.cr/handle/11554/5799.
Ortíz-González M. 2006. Conocimiento local y decisiones de los productores de Alto Beni, Bolivia
sobre el diseño y manejo de la sombra en sus cacaotales. [MSc thesis]. Turrialba, Costa Rica:
CATIE http://hdl.handle.net/11554/909.
Otárola A, Martínez H and Ordoñez R. 1985. Manejo y producción de cercas vivas de Gliricidia
sepium en el noroeste de Honduras. CATIE/COHDEFOR, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
https://repositorio.catie.ac.cr/handle/11554/9974.
Perry CH, Woodall CW, Liknes GC and Schoeneberger MM. 2008. Filling the gap:
improving estimates of working tree resources in agricultural landscapes. Agroforestry Systems
75(1):91–101. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-008-9125-6.
Ruf FO. 2011. The myth of complex cocoa agroforests: The case of Ghana.
Human Ecology 39:373–388. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-011-9392-0.
Sáenz-Tijerino YI. 2012. Aporte del cacaotal en la economía y nutrición familiar en Waslala,
Nicaragua. [MSc thesis]. Turrialba, Costa Rica: CATIE.
https://repositorio.catie.ac.cr/handle/11554/8000.
Schnell S, Altrell D, Ståhl G and Kleinn C. 2015a. The contribution of trees outside
forests to national tree biomass and carbon stocks — a comparative study across three
continents. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 187(1):4197.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-014-4197-4.
Schnell S, Kleinn C and Stahl G. 2015b. Monitoring trees outside forests: a review.
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 187(9):600.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-015-4817-7.
Sloan S and Sayer JA. 2015. Forest Resources Assessment of 2015 shows positive global
trends but forest loss and degradation persist in poor tropical countries. Forest Ecology and
Management 352 (Supplement C):134–145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2015.06.013.
Solis J, Villanueva C, Detlefsen G, Brenes C and Vilchez S. 2019. Tree cover on cattle
farms in the southeast region of Guatemala. American Journal of Agriculture and Forestry
7(2):66–77. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajaf.20190702.14.
Somarriba E. 2011. The population dynamics and productivity of Acacia pennatula in the
pasturelands of the Nature Reserve Mesas de Moropotente, Estelí, Nicaragua. Agroforestry
Systems 84(1):1–9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-011-9447-7.
Somarriba E and Beer J. 2010. Productivity of Theobroma cacao agroforestry systems with
timber or legume service shade trees. Agroforestry Systems 81(2):109–121.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-010-9364-1.
Somarriba E and Lachenaud PH. 2013. Successional cocoa agroforests of the Amazon–
Orinoco–Guiana shield. Forest Trees and Livelihoods 22(1):51–59.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14728028.2013.770316.
Thapa B, Bolakhe S and Pokhrel B. 2021. Trees outside forest: Carbon stock and socio-
economic contribution. American Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics 6(1):16–22.
https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajere.20210601.13.
Wani AA, Mehraj B, Masoodi TH, Gatoo AA and Mugloo JA. 2020. Assessment of trees
outside forests (TOF) with emphasis on agroforestry systems. In Dagar JC, Gupta SR and
Teketay D. coords. Agroforestry for Degraded Landscapes. Vol. 2. Springer, 87–107.
https://www.worldcat.org/title/agroforestry-for-degraded-landscapes-recent-advances-
and-emerging-challenges-vol1/oclc/1199127114.
Yadav Y. 2019. Dynamics of land use land cover change and mapping of tree outside
forest (TOF) in Terai, Nepal. International Journal of Environmental Sciences and Natural
Resources 19(1). https://doi.org/10.19080/ijesnr.2019.19.556002.
Zomer RJ, Trabucco A, Coe R and Place F. 2009. Trees on farm: analysis of global extent
and geographical patterns of agroforestry. ICRAF Working Paper. Bogor, Indonesia: ICRAF.
https://doi.org/10.5716/wp16263.pdf.
This list represents the order of the volumes in the series and not
the time sequence of publication.
Trees on Farms to
Improve Livelihoods and
the Environment
Over the last decade, the CGIAR Program on Forests,
Trees and Agroforestry (FTA) has undertaken innovative
basic and applied research across different scientific
disciplines on the importance of trees on farms (TonF)
to farmers’ livelihoods and to the environment. The
goal was to support the inclusion of TonF in reporting
systems and development programs, and to develop the
knowledge base and science tools needed to optimize
agroforestry systems. This publication presents key FTA
outputs on trees on farms from 2011 to 2021.
DOI: 10.17528/cifor/008217
This is No. 7 of the FTA Highlights of a Decade Series. Published volumes are indicated below.
Other volumes forthcoming.
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18