What is Agroforestry?
THE BASICS
Agroforestry is the integration of fruit, nut and timber trees with animal or crop farming systems.
Strategies such as alley cropping, silvopasture, windbreaks, and riparian buffers can compliment existing yields, increasing your farm's profitability while securing cost savings through ecosystem services such as carbon, water, nutrient, and soil retention.
Alley Cropping
Silvopasture
Orchard Bands
Ingredients & Products
Why It Matters
Agroforestry Sequesters Carbon
Our carbon cycle is currently broken: by way of fossil fuel usage and land degradation, humans are currently converting terrestrial carbon into atmospheric carbon far more quickly than we are putting that carbon back into the ground.
A tree is the opposite of a smoke stack. Trees pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and store it in their woody trunk and branches. Just as much carbon can also be stored below-ground in the tree’s roots and soil. Via the liquid carbon pathway, tree roots release sugars into the soil. These sugars feed the beneficial fungi and bacteria in the soil, which in turn provide the tree with the nitrogen it needs to grow. Dead soil looks like sand or the base path of a baseball field, whereas living soil looks like chocolate cake. The accumulation of soil carbon, along with the deposition of leaves onto the soil surface brings soil back to life.
Photo courtesy of Christian Dupraz.
Adding trees to cropland sequesters: 2 - 8 tons of carbon per acre per year
Converting forest to cropland emits: 62 - 120 tons of carbon per hectare
References:
Toensmeier, Eric. The Carbon Farming Solution: a Global Toolkit of Perennial Crops and Regenerative Agriculture Practices for Climate Change Mitigation and Food Security. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2016.
Agroforestry Decreases Erosion and Nutrient Loss
1 millimeter of soil eroded over 1 acre, equates to 1,069 gallons, or 3.8 metric tons of soil lost. Globally, conventional cropland erodes at a rate of 10 tons per hectare per year. Comparably, erosion rates in a forest range from .004 to .05 tons per hectare per year. This results in trillions of dollars in lost yields and livelihoods.
With decreased erosion comes nutrient retention, keeping nitrogen and phosphorus on the farm and out of our waterways. Carbon-rich soil holds water, increasing a farm’s resilience in the face of drought. Adding trees to agricultural landscapes incorporates the ecological benefits of a forest with the food production of a farm.
Globally, conventional cropland erodes at a rate of 10 tons per hectare per year.
Comparably, erosion rates in a forest range from .004 to .05 tons per hectare per year.
This results in trillions of dollars in lost yields and livelihoods.
References:
Trading carbon for food: Global comparison of carbon stocks vs. crop yields on agricultural land
Soil Erosion Threatens Food Production
Prosperous lands and positive rewards through sustainable land management
Agroforestry systems retain up to 53% more Nitrogen than monocultures.
They also retain 17% more phosphorus than monoculture counterparts.
References:
Nutrient cycling in an agroforestry system with runoff irrigation in Northern Kenya
Agroforestry Practices, Runoff, and Nutrient Loss: A Paired Watershed Comparison
Agroforestry Increases Biodiversity
Biodiversity keeps the ecological gears turning. Like a diversified portfolio, a landscape rich with plant species is resistant to pests and disease. Plant diversity gives rise to insect, fungal, and bacterial diversity, such that orchard pests have predators of their own. Perennial plant diversity also feeds the pollinators, which pollinate the plants that feed us.
Globally, forests cover nearly one third of land area and contain over 80% of land-based biodiversity.
7. United Nations International Year of Forests, 2011.
Why Bet on Agroforestry?
Diversity is the key to a Stable Farm
Soil health is the key to a stable yield and farm longevity. Agroforestry pulls atmospheric carbon down, putting it into the soil and in above ground-biomass. At the same time, soil erosion, nutrient loss, water retention, and biodiversity are all directly addressed through agroforestry management. When properly managed, agroforestry works to increase a farm's profitability and environmental stability.
Poised for Growth
We have built our model to mirror the successful elements that allowed the solar industry to scale.
Low Volatility
Agroforestry systems are durable, long-term investments that provide returns from permanent crops & timber.
Led by Agriculture Leaders
Projects are managed and advised by professional leaders in agriculture.
Stable Investment
Earn stable return while restoring soil fertility, mitigating global climate change, and curbing negative outputs.