Not Seeing The Farm For The Trees: Agroforestry and Sustainable Agriculture

Today, many decades since the green revolution alleviated fears of a global food crisis, agriculture is a victim of its own success. Resource-intensive production strategies have degraded agricultural lands, extirpated biodiversity and contributed to a significant proportion of climate change causing greenhouse gas emissions, putting the livelihoods of farmers and food system at risk. We are in urgent need of food systems that don’t just supply food, but reinforce the natural capital from which they depend. Agroforestry, the integration of trees within agricultural systems, is a modern name for an ancient system of practices; from pollinator hedgerows to forest gardens, agroforestry exists across many cultures, scales and agricultural contexts. In fact, you’ve probably seen agroforestry and never realized it. In this talk, Bryce will provide an overview of the field of agroforestry and how it comprises past, present and future tools in our sustainable agriculture toolbox.

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Bryce Huchins is a Master of Forestry student in the Transatlantic Master of Forestry Program (TRANSFOR-M). He holds an MSc in Agroforestry and Food Security from Bangor University, Wales. Bryce has previously worked in California advising landowners on sustainable forestland stewardship and has conducted research on carbon markets in Chile. Bryce’s academic interests extend across forestry, sustainable agriculture and international development, and currently focus on the capacity of agriculture professionals to deliver agroforestry extension services to farmers in California and British Columbia.

 

 

 

 

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