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This paper was presented at a meeting of the Tropical Agriculture Association, London, January 2003, and published in the Tropical Agriculture Association Newsletter 23(2), June 2003, 3-6. An Abstract follows.

Abstract

The International Centre for Research in Agroforestry was founded in 1977, became a member of the CGIAR in 1991, and has recently changed its name to the World Agroforestry Centre. It has been highly successful in developing agroforestry as a practical management option for farmers. In its early years of research, several false directions were taken: the supposition that practical agroforestry systems could be designed without a basis of strategic research into soil-plant processes; the assumption that farmers' problems could be solved through a single 3-5 year cycle of diagnosis and design; an over-emphasis of hedgerow intercropping ('alley cropping') which has rarely proved acceptable to farmers; and an over-ambitious collaborative research programme. About the author

• Adoption of the full spectrum of research, from strategic (studies of processes) to applied (trials of systems).
• A wider scope of environmental research, including environmental services and, e.g., carbon sequestration.
• A greatly reduced emphasis on hedgerow intercropping, more success having been achieved with tree fallows.
• More emphasis on trees themselves: selection, genetic improvement, how they can be incorporated into farming systems.
• A decision (contrary to the practice of most CGIAR centres) to include work on farmer adoption and agroforestry development.
• An effective collaborative programme, placing internationally-recruited staff alongside local staff at national centres, with reciprocal visits from and to headquarters.