Agroforestry empowers Morocco’s mountain women
OUEZZANE, Morocco — Suisi Rheia was checking the olives on her tree in front of the community huilerie, or olive oil mill. It was already mid-November 2018, but some fruits…
Mongabay series: Global Agroforestry
An ancient agricultural system, agroforestry combines trees with shrubs, crops, and livestock in a system that produces food, supports biodiversity, builds soil horizons and water tables, and sequesters carbon from the atmosphere -- this series explores how and where it is being practiced by indigenous communities, traditional agriculturists, and new farmers.
Agroforestry helps Tajikistan farmers overcome resource pressures
ISFARA, Tajikistan — Ayubhudja Yahyehudjaev stands between rows of fruit trees in the hills above town, glad and proud that this agroforestry test garden of nearly 0.6 hectares (1.5 acres)…
PNG farmers use agroforestry to fight crop diseases and reduce labor
LAE, Papua New Guinea — Across the more than 600 islands that make up Papua New Guinea, the majority of the country’s culturally diverse population relies on agriculture for both…
Ethiopia: Khat farming threatens food security, biodiversity, women, and agroforestry
WONDO GENET, Ethiopia – Agroforestry has been the major agricultural farming system in southern Ethiopia’s Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples (SNNP) regional state for millennia, passed on from generation to…
‘We see its value’: Ugandan communities benefiting from agroforestry
BUTANDA, Uganda — On a forested hill in the highlands of Butanda, in western Uganda, James Rwebishengye and Florence Atwine have created a diverse forest canopy of more than 200…
Agroforestry ‘home gardens’ build community resilience in southern Ethiopia
BULE, Ethiopia — A small village 370 kilometers (230 miles) south of the capital, Addis Ababa, Bule is believed to be the birthplace of traditional “home garden” agroforestry in Ethiopia.…
Smallholder farmers defy cocoa’s production model in Brazil
COMBU ISLAND, Brazil - It is rare to find someone who doesn’t like chocolate. When the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus gave cocoa its scientific name in 1753, he chose Theobroma…
Agroforestry supports food security and conservation in Papua New Guinea
GILDIPASI, Papua New Guinea — After a short walk from his community on Papua New Guinea’s northern coast, Yat Paol clears away dried leaves from a shady patch of ground…
Agroforestry saves soil and boosts livelihoods in Tajikistan
FAIZOBOD, Tajikistan — Mirzoli Azizov, a 54-year-old farmer, is sorting apples from the second harvest this year from his agroforestry gardens in this district 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of…
Fire and agroforestry revive California indigenous groups’ traditions
ORLEANS, California — Frank Lake stoops beside a low-growing shrub, cups one hand beneath a cluster of cobalt berries and swiftly claps it to his mouth. The purple-lipped grin he flashes…
Business and biodiversity benefit from Kyrgyz agroforestry systems
KOK-TALAA, Batken province, Kyrgyzstan — The Batken region is located in the southern part of the Fergana Valley, on Kyrgyzstan’s border with Uzbekistan. Like the rest of Kyrgyzstan, much of its…
Traditional Kyrgyz walnut-apple forests provide map for sustainable future
KYZL-UNKUR, Jalalabad region, Kyrgyzstan — The mountain road leading to Kyzyl-Unkur winds through a gorge. Three hours later, on a broken road, one finds the village surrounded on all sides…
Traditional groups sowing sustainable crops could save Venezuelan park
Caura National Park is under pressure from gold miners, but Afro-Venezuelan and indigenous groups have teamed with NGOs and companies to do sustainable agroforestry and safeguard forests.
Agroforestry ‘a good investment’: Mongabay’s Washington Post op-ed (commentary)
Mongabay editor Erik Hoffner wrote about the mismatch in funding priorities for climate mitigation solutions for the Washington Post’s global edition, the World Post, on September 11. Too often, he wrote,…
Farmers see promise and profit for agroforestry in southern Kenya
KERITA, Kenya — It is high noon at Samuel Rono’s farm in Kerita village in southern Kenya, but the cool breeze blowing through gives visitors a sense of nature’s comfort. Even the…
Farmer-managed natural regeneration: the fastest way to restore trees to degraded landscapes?
Farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR) of trees made headlines several years ago when 5 million hectares of Niger were found to have re-greened via the practice. FMNR is the encouragement of regeneration…
Agroforestry gives Kenyan indigenous community a lifeline
WEST POKOT, Kenya — The Cherangani people, an indigenous community in Kenya’s Rift Valley, have always called the Cherangani Hills Forest their ancestral home. Also known locally as the Sengwer,…
Cooperative agroforestry empowers indigenous women in Honduras
GUALCINCE, Honduras — The Lenca call it a sacrificial stone, where their indigenous ancestors went to make offerings to deities. A triangle of rock with different circles inscribed on its surface,…
Agroforestry bolsters biodiversity and villages in Sri Lanka
PITEKELE, Sri Lanka — Visitors to the Sinharaja Man and Biosphere Reserve, Sri Lanka’s largest remaining primary rainforest, could easily miss the fact that adjoining the forest’s entrance is the old…
Chocolate and agroforestry accelerate in El Salvador
ZACATECOLUCA, El Salvador — The waist-high trees in Jose Francisco Merino Umaña’s field have sprouted branches and lush green leaves, but their modest size doesn’t convey the full value they…
Special series
Endangered environmentalists
- Arson attack in Indonesia leaves activist shaken
- For embattled environmental defenders, a reprieve of sorts in 2018
- 7 convicted of killing Honduran indigenous activist Berta Cáceres
Indonesias forest guardians
- In West Papua, a development plan that doesn’t require clearing forest
- Smartphone app helps indigenous communities fight deforestation
- Papuan chef Charles Toto serves up sustainability and environmental protection in a platter
Amazon infrastructure
- Amazon at risk: Brazil plans rapid road and rail infrastructure expansion
- New appointments, new policies don’t bode well for Brazilian Amazon
- Will President Bolsonaro withdraw Brazil from the Paris Agreement? (commentary)
Asian rhinos
- Nepal court blocks road construction in rhino stronghold of Chitwan Park
- Conservation couture: Batik artisans make rhinos a fashion statement
- Rhinos or roads? Nepal deals with a tricky balancing act
