R. Leakey
Prof. Roger Leakey DSc, PhD, BSc, NDA was a former Director of Research at the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF 1993-1997) and Professor of Agroecology and Sustainable Development of James Cook University, in Cairns, Australia (2001-2006). He has been Vice President of the International Society of Tropical Foresters and is Vice Chairman of the International Tree Foundation. He holds a number of Fellowships in learned societies, universities and international research centres. He was a Coordinating Lead Author in the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) which was approved by 58 governments in an Intergovernmental Plenary meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa in April 2008. This Assessment examined the impact of agricultural knowledge, science and technology on environmentally, socially and economically sustainable development worldwide over the last 50 years and suggested that to meet these challenges agriculture has to advance from a unifunctional focus on food production and to additionally embrace more environmental, social and economic goals – i.e. to become multifunctional.
To advance agriculture in this direction, the author initiated what has become a global agroforestry programme to start the domestication of wild fruit and nut trees that were the staple diet of people before the Green Revolution. This initiative was proposed by farmers in Cameroon when they were asked what they would like to see done to improve their livelihoods and farming systems. This approach was implemented by ICRAF (now the World Agroforestry Centre) in the 1990s and has been very successful, with many impacts exceeding the Millennium Development Goals. This involved the domestication of new food crops that are unknown to most of us and their integration with staple foods on-farm to enhance environmental, social and economic sustainability by closing the Yield Gap commonly the cause of food insecurity. The value-adding and processing of these highly nutritious tree products is also creating local business opportunities and creating employment, adding to the positive benefits of this approach to farming.
In his book “Living with the Trees of Life – Towards the Transformation of Tropical Agriculture” (CABI, 2012) Roger presents the story of these changes in agricultural philosophy within the context of the authors personal experience of travelling and working in many countries of north, central and south America and the Caribbean; Africa; the Middle East; and south, south-east Asia and Oceania.
Roger is Vice-Chairman of the ‘International Tree Foundation’, a UK-based charity supporting African community tree planting and agroforestry projects for livelihood and environmental benefits. He is a Scientific Advisor to ‘Purpose Group International’, which is engaged in agricultural reform in the tropics/sub-tropics.
To advance agriculture in this direction, the author initiated what has become a global agroforestry programme to start the domestication of wild fruit and nut trees that were the staple diet of people before the Green Revolution. This initiative was proposed by farmers in Cameroon when they were asked what they would like to see done to improve their livelihoods and farming systems. This approach was implemented by ICRAF (now the World Agroforestry Centre) in the 1990s and has been very successful, with many impacts exceeding the Millennium Development Goals. This involved the domestication of new food crops that are unknown to most of us and their integration with staple foods on-farm to enhance environmental, social and economic sustainability by closing the Yield Gap commonly the cause of food insecurity. The value-adding and processing of these highly nutritious tree products is also creating local business opportunities and creating employment, adding to the positive benefits of this approach to farming.
In his book “Living with the Trees of Life – Towards the Transformation of Tropical Agriculture” (CABI, 2012) Roger presents the story of these changes in agricultural philosophy within the context of the authors personal experience of travelling and working in many countries of north, central and south America and the Caribbean; Africa; the Middle East; and south, south-east Asia and Oceania.
Roger is Vice-Chairman of the ‘International Tree Foundation’, a UK-based charity supporting African community tree planting and agroforestry projects for livelihood and environmental benefits. He is a Scientific Advisor to ‘Purpose Group International’, which is engaged in agricultural reform in the tropics/sub-tropics.
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Papers by R. Leakey
formal markets, there is a multiplicity of species and ways in which trees are used and managed, and genetic diversity within species is frequently not given proper consideration. We review here what is known about the value of trees to rural communities through considering three production categories:
non-timber products harvested from trees in natural and managed forests and woodlands; the various products and services obtained from a wide range of trees planted and/or retained in smallholders’ agroforestry systems; and the commercial products harvested from cultivated tree commodity crops. Where possible, we focus on the role of intra-specific genetic variation in providing support to livelihoods, and for each of the three production categories we also consider wider conservation and sustainability issues,
including the linkages between categories in terms of management. Challenges to ‘conventional wisdom’ on tree resource use, value and management – such as in the posited links between commercialisation, cultivation and conservation – are highlighted, and constraints and opportunities to maintain and enhance value are described.
industries to further develop the rural economy and livelihoods.
This approach of combining agroecological restoration with income generation to address poor crop yield is especially important in developing countries where farm land is severely degraded, farmers are trapped in poverty, hunger and malnutrition, and opportunities for improved lifestyles are virtually inaccessible. Past practices of clearing forest as new land for agriculture are no longer acceptable, so, if the global food crisis is to be averted, ways have to be found to rehabilitate degraded farm land and make existing fields more productive. The cultivation of tree crops also helps to
mitigate climate change by sequestering carbon above- and belowground. Trees of many different types offer a range of useful and appropriate functions: from atmospheric nitrogen fixation; the restoration of soil structure and nutrient cycling; niche creation for organisms from the smallest microbe to birds and mammals; as well as producing a wide range of edible products from leaves, fruits, and nuts, as well as a wide
array of non-food products for existing and future markets. In addition, trees protect watersheds and sequester carbon. Interestingly, farmers in the tropics and subtropics are still very much better connected with the role of trees and forests in both the environment and society—connections lost by centuries of so-called civilization associated with modern living in industrialized countries. With his research partners, the author has been instrumental in developing ideas, strategies, techniques and practices spanning many disciplines, which are now allowing these functions to be harnessed by poor farmers in small-scale, bottom-up, community development projects. In essence, this involves the evolution of a logical approach to “multifunctional agriculture” —food production together with social, economic, and environmental benefits—through the sustainable intensification of farming practices within an integrated approach to rural development. Over the last decade, many international reports have pointed a critical finger at agriculture for its environmental and social costs to both global health and human livelihoods, calling for a more sustainable approach, saying that “business as usual” in farming is no longer acceptable (e.g., MEA, 2005; GEO, 2007; CAWMA, 2007; IAASTD, 2009; The Royal Society, 2009), especially in the tropics and subtropics. However, these reports do not go on to say how to achieve the desired outcome. This desire for a new and more multifunctional approach to rural development has also been expressed in the seventeen 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. To address these broad-ranging social, economic,
and environmental goals, which form a matrix of interacting issues, will require a set of equally interrelated
interventions that together form a holistic solution. Furthermore, the current tendency to focus on individual goals misses the opportunity to be as cost effective as a more integrated approach. Thus, it is important that development agencies focus on activities that promote the simultaneous delivery of multiple goals. In a world increasingly focused on specializing in the detail of small components of a single scientific discipline,
this book is innovative and perhaps unique in looking in the other direction. It draws on the experience and output of a single scientist trained in agriculture and botany, and who then over the course of his career became increasing involved in work with scientists in other disciplines. This multi- and transdisciplinary work at the interface of agriculture with forestry, horticulture, plant physiology, genetics, ecology, soil science, food science, economics, social sciences, and environmental science has led to a more holistic way to address the complex issues of today’s food crisis. This book compiles a selection from the 300+ publications that span many disciplines and are the outcome of this
research. Organized by core concept, each chapter of this book also includes an update, revealing the progress that has been made as well as some pointers to future work. This will also identify those concerns and limitations that still factor into the adoption and utilization of multifunctional agriculture in maximizing crop production, closing the yield gap in staple food crops, enhancing the livelihoods of subsistence farmers and their communities, and addressing environmental
degradation and natural resource mismanagement. From this we can get an insight into how a new multidisciplinary approach to agriculture (agroforestry) has emerged over the last 25 years. It resonates with the complex interacting problems facing the achievement of the new 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. However, agroforestry is often misunderstood by decision makers who consider that trees should be cleared to make way for crops, rather than recognizing their essential role in ecosystem and planetary health. The challenge now for the unconventional approach to modern agriculture described in this book is to promote the scale-up of these research outputs in development programs to the point where they have regional, and even global,
impact. This requires acceptance of the concepts and outcomes by policymakers, agribusiness, and academics, most of whom are currently going in a different — more conventional and less sustainable — direction, perhaps unaware of the business opportunities presented by this environmentally more sustainable and socially acceptable option. In conclusion, this book provides the research publications underpinning the story presented in Roger Leakey’s personal odyssey of field experience from around the world, Living with the Trees of Life—Towards the Transformation of
Tropical Agriculture. Both have been compiled for those focused on long-term solutions to the environmental, as well as food supply, challenges facing the world, and provide an important resource for understanding how and why trees provide a crucial part of the total solution.