Impacts of AKST on development and sustainability goals.

Assessment and analysis of AKST impacts; Agriculture productivity, production factors and consumption; impacts of akst on sustainability, through integrated technologies and the delivery of ecosystem services and public goods; Impacts of akst on livehoods, capacoty strenthening and empowerment; relationshipsbetween akst, coordination and regulatory processes among multipl3e stakeholders

Multifunctional agriculture and agroforestry

‘Multifunctional agriculture’ recognizes agriculture as a multi-output activity producing commodities and noncommodity externalities and public goods, such as environmental services, landscape amenities and cultural heritages

Domestication potential of Marula (Sclerocarya birrea subsp. caffra) in South Africa and Namibia: 3. Multiple trait selection

An understanding of the inter-relationships between the traits characterising tree-to-tree variation in fruits and kernels is fundamental to the development of selected cultivars based on multiple trait selection. Using data from previously characterised marula (Sclerocarya birrea) trees in Bushbuckridge, South Africa and North Central Region of Namibia, this study examines the relationships between the different traits (fruit pulp, flesh/juice mass, and nut shell and kernel mass) as a means to determine the opportunities to develop cultivars. Strong and highly significant relationships were found between fruit mass and pulp mass in trees from South Africa and Namibia, indicating that size is a good predictor of fruit pulp production. However, fruit size is not a good predictor of nut or kernel production, as there were weak relationships between fruit and nut and/or kernel mass, which varied between sites and landuses. Generally, the relationships between fruit mass and kernel mass were weaker than between fruit mass and nut mass. Relationships between kernel mass and shell mass were generally weak. The lack of strong relationships between fruit and kernel mass does, however, imply that there are opportunities to identify trees with either big fruits/small nuts for pulp production, or trees with large kernels in relatively small fruits for kernel oil production. However, within fruits from the same tree, nuts could contain 0–4 kernels, indicating that even in trees with an inherent propensity for large kernels, improved pollination may be required to maximise kernel mass through an increase in kernel number. Finally, the relationships between percentage kernel oil content and the measured morphological traits were also very weak. The conclusions of these results are that there is merit in identifying different combinations of traits for the selection of trees producing either pulp or kernels. Consequently, fruit and kernel ‘ideotypes’ are presented as guides to the selection of elite trees for cultivar development. These results have important implications for the domestication of the species as a producer of fruits or kernels for food/beverages or cosmetic oils

Win:Win landuse strategies for Africa: 1. Building on experience with agroforests in Asia and Latin America, and 2. Capturing economic and environmental benefits with multistrata agroforests

A win:win landuse strategy has to provide both economic and environmental benefits, ideally with enhanced livelihoods for the poor and the provision of commodities for the international market. This paper reviews recent developments in agroforestry and some case studies from SE Asia and Latin America, where income-generating non-timber forest products are being produced by subsistence farmers within either enriched forest fallows (agroforests) or other forms of multistrata agroforestry. It then examines the opportunities for similarly producing non-timber forest products in the four main regions of Africa (Humid lowland forests of West and Central Africa, the East African Highlands, and the Miombo woodlands of southern Africa and the Sahel), as well as opportunities to domesticate the priority tree species for income generation. \ud To follow and build on the Green Revolution, there is a need for landuses that: i) provide for livelihood needs of subsistence farmers; ii) meet the global needs for international commodities; and iii) provide international environmental services. In recent years, it has been realised that under certain circumstances, African farmers are planting trees on their farms and are developing agroecosystems that meet these needs. In addition, progress has been made towards the domestication of indigenous trees for their potential to generate farm income and so to reduce poverty. Some recommendations are made about research and development activities that would further encourage the development of sustainable landuses based on tree crops. A role is suggested for the industrial sector in tree crop/agroforestry development, based on new initiatives in the car manufacturing industry, but with opportunities of novel foods for the food and pharmaceutical industries

Agroforestry: a delivery mechanism for multi-functional agriculture

The reports of the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development present multi-functional agriculture as a better agricultural paradigm for a productive and sustainable future than the current model of intensive industrial agriculture. Like multi-functional agriculture, agroforestry has the objective of promoting economically, socially and environmentally sustainable rural development. This paper briefly summarizes some of the major global issues of land degradation, poverty, malnutrition and hunger and examines how agroforestry can play a substantial role in the delivery of a better future, especially for poor small-holder farmers in the tropics

Multifunctional agriculture and opportunities for agroforestry: implications of IAASTD

To explain the relationship between agroforestry and multifunctional agriculture, this chapter presents some of the key messages from the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) vis-à-vis the objectives of agroforestry. Multifunctional agriculture has been proposed as a paradigm for productive and sustainable agriculture, which is especially appropriate for poor smallholders in the tropics. Agroforestry, like multifunctional agriculture, has the objective of promoting economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable rural development. This chapter briefly summarizes some of the major global issues of land degradation, poverty, malnutrition, and hunger and examines how agroforestry can play a substantial role in the delivery of a better future. To illustrate these points, an integrated rural development project in Cameroon is presented as a good example of how agroforestry can rehabilitate degraded land, diversify farming systems with domesticated indigenous trees, and create business and employment opportunities in rural communities, which substantially improve the livelihoods of rural people