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Agroforestry contributes to the recovery of water sources. Credit: Courtesy of ACICAFOC
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By Fabiola Ortiz
RIO DE JANEIRO, Jun 23 2012 (IPS) -
Agroforestry is gaining ground as a tool for climate change adaptation and
mitigation in Central America, a region where global warming could generate
losses equivalent to 19 percent of gross domestic product.
“Agroforestry is our only alternative to mitigate
and adapt to climate change,” Alberto Chinchilla, executive director of the
Central American Coordinating Association of Indigenous and Peasant Community
Agroforestry (ACICAFOC) told Tierramérica.
A side event of the United Nations Conference
on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), held Jun. 20-22 in Rio de Janeiro,
addressed this “climate-smart” agriculture approach that could help reduce the
vulnerability of the Central American region.
The meeting was attended by government
ministers, scientists, technicians and farmers.
An agroforestry system combines trees with
agricultural production and livestock grazing. Its practice, enhanced by
scientific research, can contribute to the development of environmentally
friendly methods and technologies, said Chinchilla.
For example, trees can help in the recovery
of water sources, provide protective shade to crops, conserve moisture, and
keep pasture lands cooler, reducing the heat stress suffered by cattle.
Agroforestry can also contribute to the
recovery of native or endangered tree species while increasing the food
security of communities.
“Agroforestry links agriculture, food
production and trees. We can no longer continue to implement agricultural
policies with the Ministry of Agriculture separated from the Ministry of
Environment. We must harmonize these policies, and trees must be part of
agriculture,” Chinchilla maintained.
The effects of climate change are the biggest
threats facing Central America, made up by seven countries with a combined
population of 43 million inhabitants, almost half of whom live in poverty.
Protected areas make up 27.5 percent of the
region’s total land area. But it possesses enormous biodiversity, according to
Rigoberto Cuéllar, the minister of natural resources and environment of Honduras.
Cuéllar fully supports the implementation of
agroforestry systems in his country.
“Climate change is one of the factors that
limit sustainable development in the region. We are actively backing
agroforestry and the promotion of productive activities. We need to define
clear policies to carry out coordinated actions in our countries,” he said.
Central America’s GDP is growing by five
percent annually, but it is estimated that the region has lost 1.7 percentage
points of GDP in the last two decades due to climate disasters.
According to Chinchilla, the practice of
agroforestry has expanded considerably over the last decade in the region. The
Central American countries could come to represent the vanguard in this
approach thanks to a series of projects that promote agroforestry and food
security.
The International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD) and the Japan Social Development Fund administered by the
World Bank are financing initiatives for agroforestry systems incorporating
cacao and coffee production, silvopasture systems (combining livestock grazing
and tree crops) and reforestation. ,
Over the next four years, some 10 million
dollars will be invested in community agroforestry through projects with
ACICAFOC partners. The beneficiaries are members of indigenous and peasant
farmer communities.
Chinchilla said that the challenge is to
integrate traditional and scientific knowledge.
To that end, ACICAFOC has joined with the
Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) to organize
a training program to strengthen traditional and academic knowledge on tropical
agroforestry systems.
The Tikonel Association for the Development
of Production and Services is a prime example of local initiatives around
agroforestry products. Executive director Francisco Xanté Lobos said that
Tikonel works with 16 rural communities, most of them K’iche’ Maya indigenous
communities, who grow tree species like pine and cypress on plantations that
have earned green label certification.
They also produce coffee, macadamia nuts and
cacao alongside these timber species.
“After 20 years we realized that we have done
many things that contribute to sustainable development. We want to call on
governments to do more to promote integrated development as a way of
contributing to a better quality of life,” Xanté Lobos told Tierramérica.
Costa Rica, for its part, is a model of
national efforts to promote reforestation and payment for environmental
services. According to Environment Minister René Castro, the country’s forest
cover had been reduced to a mere 21 percent of its national territory in 1987,
but was increased to close to 52 percent by 2010.
“This year we are going to reach 4.8 million
trees, one per inhabitant,” announced Castro in his presentation. Reforestation
is a national effort, funded by a fuel tax based on the “polluter pays”
principle and implemented through a system of payment for environmental
services, he explained.
An additional program in Costa Rica focuses
on reforestation with native and endangered tree species. “Cattle ranchers and
farmers who plant endangered species are reimbursed with 50 percent of the
cost,” said Castro. It is a simple instrument which demonstrates that it is
possible to recover these tree species, he added.
*The writer is an IPS correspondent. This
story was originally published by Latin American newspapers that are part of
the Tierramérica network. Tierramérica is a specialised news service produced
by IPS with the backing of the United Nations Development Programme, United
Nations Environment Programme and the World Bank.
