International Centre For Research In Agroforestry

Trees and forest genetic resources, and biodiversity:the ability of farmers and forest dwellers to produce food and other goods and services depends on biodiversity in genes, species and ecosystems. Yet the world is experiencing an alarming and accelerating loss of biodiversity, which is undermining progress towards development goals related to poverty, health and climate, among others.cifor-icraf's work on tree productivity and diversity aims to deliver on the best science needed to safeguard tree diversity, domesticate trees and deliver suitable tree planting material to growers including for food, fodder, timber and medicinal plants.

Governance, equity and well-being:problems related to land, trees and forests, as well as growing inequity cannot be solved if we do not understand and address unequal power relations and other governance challenges. Such research is essential to bring about (just) transformational change (what change, for whom) in policies, institutions and behaviours.cifor-icraf conducts applied research to reveal and propose solutions to patterns of inequity (e.g. Gender, ethnicity, age); to improve understanding of the roles of forests, trees and agroforests for smallholder and indigenous livelihoods, health and food security; and to explore and innovate with sustainable landscape approaches and multi-stakeholder processes.

Agroecology:in the quest to transform food systems in ways that serve both people and nature, agroecology is gaining prominence as a means of generating solutions. It is a farming and food system approach that's inspired by natural ecosystems, combines local and scientific knowledge, and focuses on the interactions between plants, animals, humans, and the environment.the transformative partnership platform on agroecological approaches to building resilience of livelihoods and landscapes (agroecology tpp) aims to foster transitions to more sustainable agricultural and food systems by accelerating and coordinating the actions of a range of institutions that are already working on agroecology across various scales, contexts, and locations.

Soil and land health:with over one third of the earth's surface degraded and over 3.2 billion people negatively affected by degradation, continuing business as usual is no longer an option. It is clear that without healthy, well-functioning soil we cannot produce nutritious food and achieve food systems transformation. The un decade on ecosystem restoration 20212030 is a critical call to action and opportunity to restore ecosystem and soil health.cifor-icraf is a global centre of excellence for soil and land restoration, integrated soil information, and soil organic carbon accounting, with relevance for food and nutrition security, national restoration goals and climate commitments. Providing rigorous actionable evidence, partnerships and global engagement are core to our work. Through co-leading the coalition of action 4 soil health (ca4sh) we are ensuring actionable evidence directly informs global soil agendas and ecosystem health investments.

Sustainable value chains and investments:the degradation of species-rich agricultural and forest landscapes needs to be halted, while the growing global demand for food, feed, energy, fibre, and other ecosystem services is to be met.in response to this urgent challenge, private companies, governments, and financial service providers are increasingly investing in sustainable activities that reduce pressure on forests and farmlands. Cifor-icraf contributes to these efforts through evidence-based solutions for new business models and investments in diverse forest and tree crop value chains, which benefit rural livelihoods and economies, while minimizing environmental impacts.

Research support units supported the organization's research programs by providing state-of-the-art technical services, library facilities, computer services, systems development, and electronic communications.