ABSTRACT
Agroforestry – integrating trees and other perennials into farming systems for the benefit of farm families and the environment – is an ancient practice that began moving from the realm of indigenous knowledge into agricultural research only about 25 years ago (Bene et al, 1977). During the 1980s, agroforestry was promoted widely as a sustainability-enhancing practice with great potential to increase crop yields and conserve soil and recycle nutrients, while producing fuelwood, fodder, fruit and timber (eg, Steppler and Nair, 1987; Nair, 1989). At that time, agroforestry was considered almost a panacea for solving landuse problems in the tropics. Many development projects pushed agroforestry technologies that were without foundations in solid research. During the past decade, however, agroforestry studies have become more empirical, based on process-oriented research (Sanchez, 1995; Young, 1997; Buck et al, 1999).
