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Agroforestry has potential for strengthening the climate change resilience of smallholder farmers in Southeast Asia. In Indonesia, the food security challenges faced by smallholders will likely worsen due to climate change impacts. Agroforestry provides and option for strengthening climate change resilience, while contributing to food access, income, health, and environmental stability. To evaluate the evidence for such benefits, this systematic review identifies 22 peer-reviewed articles published between 2000 and 2019 which assess agroforestry’s contributions to food security in Indonesia, mostly in Java or Sumatra. Analysis of the studies indicate that traditional and commercial agroforestry contribute to food security in diverse ways: for example, traditional homegardens offer 20% more dietary diversity than commercial counterparts, while commercial homegardens may contribute up to five times more income. Agri-silviculture contributions fall along a timber versus non-timber forest product continuum that displays a similar tradeoff between diversity and income. Those systems with a commercial focus may receive 54% of their income from a single commodity crop such as coffee, while traditional systems allow greater access to plants with medicinal benefits. Nearly all agroforestry systems offered indirect benefits for food security, such as allowing more off-farm work than traditional agriculture and contributing to environmental stability: users of agroforestry were found by one study to collect 83% less fuelwood from natural forests. One study highlighted that agroforestry options have up to 98% greater net present value (for periods over 30 years) compared to slash and burn style agriculture. However, very few studies of Indonesian agroforestry focused explicitly on financial analysis and food security, indicating the need for further research. Given the similar situations faced by many Southeast Asia countries, our findings contribute to emerging trends throughout the region regarding the relationship between agroforestry and food security.

Turmeric farming in slash and burn areas of Bangladesh plays an important role for generating cash income. This paper estimates technical efficiency of turmeric farmers in the slash and burn areas of Bangladesh and identifies sources of inefficiency using survey data obtained from 150 farmers over 6 villages throughout 2014/2015 growing season. Turmeric farming displayed much variability in technical efficiency ranging from 18 to 96% with mean technical efficiency of 84%, which suggested a substantial 16% of potential output of turmeric can be recovered by removing inefficiency. Besides improving technical efficiency, potential also exists for raising turmeric production through intensive training and extension services. For a land scarce country like Bangladesh this gain could help increase income and ensure better livelihood for the hilly farmers. The key policy implication of the analysis is that investment in training and extension service would greatly improve technical efficiency.

Agroforestry systems are widely recognized as an important way to address numerous environmental challenges in tropical areas. They represent a sustainable alternative form of land-use for small-scale agriculture, responding to the economic development needs of communities and offering a number of ecosystem services. This article presents an evaluation of the short- and medium-term profitability of two experimental agroforestry systems where fruit trees are predominant, which were established in 2009 in the Tapajos region of the Brazilian Amazon, state of Para. An analysis of net present value (NPV) confirms that the two experimental systems studied recover their total implementation and operating costs within a 20 years time horizon. These results underlie that prices of inputs are stable and farmers have access to markets, credit, and agricultural knowledge. The two experimental systems are compared to plots under traditional slash-and-burn cultivation, and Bragantino system. The results support changes to public policies in order to facilitate alternatives to slash-and-burn cultivation by supporting access to credit, knowledge of alternative agricultural practices, transportation systems, and industries that transform agricultural products. The consideration of ecosystem services should add a supplementary argument in favour of policies that promote agroforestry systems and thus limit the practice of slash-and-burn subsistence agriculture.

Cocoa production in humid forest landscapes has been one of the main cash providers of West and Central African economies. Along with the liberalization of the perennial tree sector, there are increased fluctuations of cocoa income. At the same time, the demand and interest for timber production and non-wood forest products have also been increasing. With the continuous disappearance of natural forests, the production of these commodities is being shifted into cocoa agroforests and plantations. In view of helping research and development institutions in promoting sustainable tree crop systems, this paper attempts, for the main cocoa producing countries of West Africa (Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire), to: (1) document the temporal evolution of the market demand for forests and non-wood forest products both at the local and international levels; (2) explore the set of tree species that can be produced in cocoa agroforests of WCA to satisfy this demand. Deforestation resulting partly from the expansion of perennial orchards and slash and burn agriculture is: (i) leading to a shortage of suitable forest land necessary to stabilize or increase national cocoa production and (ii) increasing the gap between the demand and availability/supply of non-wood forest products (NWFP) and timber by reducing the main source of these products—the forest. Demand of these products is increasing with the growth of urban and peri-urban centers. At the same time, perennial agroforestry systems such as cocoa agroforest are increasingly perceived as assets for Payment for Environmental Services (PES) such as carbon storage and biodiversity conservation, because of the potential of the resources that they can generate. These demands of products and payment for ecosystem services that can be provided by sustainable cocoa agroforestry systems depends upon the appropriate combination of cocoa, timber and non-timber forest trees on the same land. Such demands is still to be properly exploited in the region. Cocoa agroforests in West Africa are characterized by fewer species than those of Central Africa. The level of market access influences the types of species that are managed inside cocoa agroforests. Among the species potentially associable with cocoa, those demanded by the local, regional and international markets are not necessarily the ones that are more frequent in the cocoa fields. The gradual reduction of natural forest, from which timber and non-timber products are gathered, aroused the need to integrate the growing of such species in cocoa agroforestry systems.

Shifting cultivation is a common agricultural practice that is the basis of subsistence for many rural populations throughout the Tropics. The recent strong trend towards shorter fallow periods has led to widespread concern about declines in soil fertility, crop yields, and food security. Unlike most research on this problem, we focus here on steeply sloped regions such as Mizoram state in northeast India where most land is at an incline of >33°, and the potential for relatively large soil erosional losses may necessitate distinctive solutions. Our goal is to review the relevant literature so as to optimize the direction and quality of future science research on shifting cultivation in Mizoram. Our analysis suggests that the most promising options for improving shifting cultivation are nutrient and water supplementation, optimising crop choice, extending the site use period, enhancing the fallow recovery rate, and controlling the burns and their environmental impacts. Promising alternatives for replacing shifting cultivation include inter-row cropping between contour hedgerows of nitrogen-fixing shrubs, slope terracing, agroforestry with anti-erosional plants, and bamboo forest harvesting. In addition, we identify the principal research questions that should be addressed before each of these options can be evaluated and recommended as part of land use planning initiatives. Overall, we conclude that intelligent and careful use of commercial fertilizer in combination with organic matter additions is likely to be an important feature of many of the solutions to the problem of shortening fallow periods in shifting cultivation on steep slopes.

In northern Laos, shortened fallows in the slash-and-burn upland rice system are not sustainable either from a production or economic standpoint. This paper evaluates the potential for using the indigenous fast-growing tree, Broussonetia papyrifera L. Vent. (paper mulberry) as an economic fallow crop. The objectives of this study are to assess the inner bark yield of paper mulberry, and to evaluate rice productivity following paper mulberry cultivation. In addition, allometric models for estimating the inner bark yield of paper mulberry are developed. Inner bark yield of paper mulberry stands ranging in age from 9 to 48 months ranged from 10 to 208 g m−2, and increased with age. The models using diameter at breast height and stem height, or diameter at breast height only as independent variables explained well the variation in inner bark yield. When paper mulberry was completely removed during the rice growing season, rice yields in these areas were similar to those following weedy bush fallow. When paper mulberry was allowed to grow, rice yields were negatively correlated to paper mulberry stem density. When paper mulberry lateral branches were pruned back, rice yields could be maintained if the paper mulberry stem density was

The worlds’ current food production system is focused on a limited number of crops. However, international food demand is increasingly looking for more diversified supplies. In the Venezuelan State Amazonas, the Piaroa indigenous people collect and cultivate several indigenous species with local, regional, national and even international potential. A participatory approach was used to select, in cooperation with these Piaroa people, a list of products for in-depth economic analysis and for introduction in agroforestry trials in a later phase. Seven agroforestry food products of this list were identified as underutilized. Primary data collected through consumer and trader surveys on the local markets and participatory exercises in selected Piaroa communities revealed that the main causes of underutilization are the general lack of transport, processing and market infrastructure in Amazonas; the lack of demand, due to a lack of product information; the lack of market information and cooperation between the different market chain actors; and the low productivity of the traditional slash and burn plots. Solutions to overcome the infrastructural constraints are sought by looking at the example set by a local NGO.

Where long forest-fallows are no longer practiced, productivity declines in the absence of input substitution, as does the ability of subsistence farmers to earn an adequate livelihood from shifting cultivation. Land availability, population density and productivity-related factors such as soil fertility and labour requirements are not the only factors that affect fallow length and land use intensification in shifting cultivation agroforestry systems. Households surveyed indicated that various other decision criteria (e.g., proximity to other fields and the protection of land use rights) are important in land use decisions. Even though one quarter of households reported insufficient land resources to maintain soil fertility, few actually indicated that their choices were constrained by land availability. In fact, many cleared much younger fallows than strictly necessary based on the age of fallows available in their land holdings – even those with fallows of sufficient age to maintain long-term productivity. This paper outlines an approach to quantify information about the household preferences that influence land use decisions, discusses the implications of these decision criteria for land use intensification and uses them to model household decision-making in a way that effectively simulates the spatial and dynamic mosaic of land use characteristic of shifting cultivation. Not only are non-productivity related decision criteria important in land use decisions in general; they also have a significant impact on land use intensification. In fact, the research described here demonstrates that both household-specific preferences and household-specific initial conditions can lead to intensification of land use apart from that arising due to increasing population density.

Swidden cultivation is the traditional agricultural system in most parts of the Amazonian rain forest. In a remote area in the Manu National Park, Peru, this system was analysed in two indigenous Matsiguenka communities. Diversity of cultivated plants on fields and in homegardens are presented in the current study. Cultivated plants were noted on two to four plots per field on 46 fields, making a total of 126 survey plots. Nineteen homegardens were studied as well. Dominating species cultivated on fields is cassava (Manihot esculenta). Fruit trees such as the peach palm (Bactris gasipaes), guava (Psidium guajava) or Inga edulis, but also cotton (Gossypium barbadense) and a medicinal plant (Cyperus sp.) predominate in more than 75 % of the homegardens analysed. Species diversity increases steadily from 18 and 24 species on 1- and 2-year-old fields to 26, 29 and 66 species in young, medium old and old homegardens, respectively. Seventy-one different species in total were found in all homegardens analysed and 25 in swidden fields. Diversity of species cultivated in homegardens is low compared to other studies in the rain forest of the Amazon. This seems to be due to their remoteness from the next urban centre and to the fact that they are native communities with still low external exchange of information. These findings are in contrast to the hypothesis that remoteness from urban centres increases species richness because subsistence production is based on a broad variety of species. In contrast to species richness in homegardens, differences in species richness in swidden fields between the present and other studies could not be found.

Farmers are often blamed for destroying the tropical forest, especially in Laos. Converting shifting cultivation into cash crop based agriculture is frequently presented as the solution for merging forest protection and poverty alleviation, but many attempts have ended in failure. A rural development project has attempted to introduce medicinal cardamom (Amomum villosum) cultivation in the notably remote region of Phongsaly (northern Laos), for export to China. With nearly 300 ha planted, the crop now involves about 75% of the farmers in the region. Farmers fitted cardamom into their farming system, to suit their needs for sustainability with a crop compatible with existing practices. Results indicate that introducing a cash crop into a shifting cultivation region is possible if a greater attention is paid to: (i) appraise how the new crop fits into the farming systems; (ii) prioritise economic issues over agronomic matters, in particular identify markets, traders or commercial risks.

Rethinking the relationship between length of fallow and crop yields inshifting cultivation?The theory that a correlation between shortened fallow periods and yielddecline in shifting cultivation exists is questioned in this paper. Thisrelationship has been taken for granted, and because it shows that shiftingcultivation will break down under pressure, it has partly been responsible fornegative government views on shifting cultivation. Yield levels in shiftingcultivation are influenced by a wide range of biophysical, socioeconomic, andcultural factors and it is difficult to isolate fallow length as a singledetermining factor. A total of 330 studies were reviewed and fifteen withempirical data were chosen for in-depth analysis. Although most of the empiricalstudies support the theory, the data sets are often ambiguous and importantparameters are insufficiently taken into account. Several studies found norelationship between fallow length and yield, but these also lack information toverify the validity of the data. It is concluded that empirical studiesfocussing on this problem are needed to fully understand this relationship anddevelop feasible scenarios for the numerous attempts at modelling shiftingcultivation development. Moreover, the use of gloomy `breakdown' scenarios asjustification for improving shifting cultivation should be avoided.

The shortened fallow period in traditional slash and burn agriculture of the Maya of Quintana Roo, Mexico, has reduced soil fertility, crop yields, biodiversity, and mature forest vegetation. Studies have shown that agroforests that mimic local ecosystem processes can be used to provide for the farmers' well-being while protecting and preserving forest resources and biodiversity. The objective of this investigation was to identify, describe, and evaluate Mayan crop plants that could be used as analog species in agroforest design. We used participant observation, interviews with farmers, and field measurements to collect information on the social, agricultural, and ecological aspects of the plants. We identified five horizontal and one vertical strata in mature homegardens: the herbaceous stratum, the low shrub stratum, the tall shrub stratum, the fruit tree stratum, the timber tree stratum, and the viny stratum. We categorized 77 forbes, shrubs, and vines identified for their temporal and spatial placement in an agroforest. The plants evaluated can be placed in one of the four developmental stages of an agroforest: the herbaceous stage, and the shrub stage, the fruit tree stage, and the timber tree stage. By using the identified plants and the analog hypothesis, we can design an agroecological system that provides for the farmers' needs, and efficiently utilizes the resources on-site for the production of food, timber, medicinal plants, and nontimber products in a manner that protects the natural resource base of the region.

Shifting cultivation continues as the economic mainstay of upland communities in many countries in Southeast Asia. However, the conditions that historically underpinned the sustainability of rotations with long fallows have largely vanished. The imperative to evolve more permanent forms of land use has been exacerbated by rapid population growth, gazettement of remnant wildlands into protected areas, and state policies to sedentarize agriculture and discourage the use of fallows and fire. There are many compelling examples where shifting cultivators have successfully managed local resources to solve local problems. Technical approaches to stabilizing and improving productivity of shifting cultivation systems have not been notably successful. Farmer rejection of researcher-driven solutions has led to greater recognition of farmer constraints. This experience underlined the need for participatory, on-farm research approaches to identify solutions. The challenge is to document and evaluate indigenous strategies for intensification of shifting cultivation through a process of research and development. This process involves identification of promising indigenous practices, characterization of the practices, validation of the utility of the practice for other communities, extrapolation to other locations, verification with key farmers, and wide-scale extension.

Land use was examined in three settlements – Pedro Peixoto in Acre and Theobroma in Rondonia, Brazil, and Pucallpa, in Peru. Research aimed at characterizing the differences in land use after initial slash-and-burn, and presenting hypotheses to assess the feasibility of improved land uses. Settlers in the Amazon practice slash-and-burn agriculture in forest lands to produce annual crops. After cropping, lands are converted to pasture, or planted with perennial crops, or fallowed in anticipation of future annual crop production. Land use after slash-and-burn cultivation in forest lands differed among the colonies examined. Whereas colonists in Pedro Peixoto converted lands to pasture for cattle production, settlers in Theobroma adopted a strategy encompassing both dual-purpose (milk and meat) cattle and perennial crop production. The more heterogeneous settlers in Pucallpa, who included small-scale cattle ranchers and riverine and forest slash-and-burn farmers, gave more importance to perennial crops. Hypotheses are suggested regarding the described land use differences, and implications for the adoption of agroforestry are discussed.

Hilly topography and inaccessible markets leave limited alternatives for Lao upland farmers who grow rice in slash-and-burn systems. They plant banana, mango, papaya, coconut and other perennials and collect forest products, specially bamboo shoot, banana inflorescence, rattan, cardamom, and benzoin for home consumption and market. Teak is the most important perennial planted on upland fields but farmers having teak are more likely to belong to the lowland ethnic groups and own lowland rice fields. Farmers preferred teak over fruit trees and coffee because of the better market potential and 82% considered cash income or wood for construction and 18% the securing of land tenure as major reasons for planting teak. Insufficient financial resources, non-availability of land, lack of seedlings, lack of labor and lack of experience were regarded as the main reasons for not planting teak by 41, 39, 35, 28 and 13% of non-teak growers, respectively. Plantations are often interplanted with rice for the first 1–3 years. Resource-poor families generally cannot risk the long-term investments and credit or modified systems combining food, livestock, and timber production are necessary to allow them to take part in the potentially lucrative teak production.