1. Transformational Opportunities to
Perennialize Global Farming
Creating an EverGreen Agriculture
Dennis Garrity
UN Drylands Ambassador
Distinguished Board Research Fellow, World Agroforestry Centre
Chair, Partnership to Create an EverGreen Agriculture

2. Sustainable Development Goals
• Food security
• Poverty eradication
• Health
• Gender equity
• Universal Education
• Reversing land degradation
• Climate change resilience
• Energy for all

3. Trend in non-climate related net primary productivity
1981–2006. Conijn et al 2013.
New post-2015 Sustainable Development Goal:
Zero Net Land Degradation by 2030

4. Five million hectares of croplands now dominated
by fertilizer-fodder-fuewood trees in Niger

5. A Parkland Renaissance on Niger farmlands

7. Total Global Emissions are accelerating
…but land-based emissions are declining
Land-use change black line: Includes management-climate interactions
Source: Le Quéré et al. 2012; Global Carbon Project 2012

9. The albida halo effect
• Microclimate buffering
• Soil fertility improvement

10. Microclimatic variation:
Crop Canopy Temperature

12. Evergreen agriculture with Faidherbia albida in Zambia.

13. Faidherbia Trial Results in Zambia
Maize yield - zero fertiliser
2008 2009 2010
----- Tons/ha -------
With Faidherbia 4.1 5.1 5.6
Without Faidherbia 1.3 2.6 2.6
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Number of trials 15 40 40

15. DroughtDroughtFlood
P addition
resumed
Long-term maize yield without fertilizer
in a Gliricidia system
P stopped

16. Impact of fertilizer trees on maize yield
under farmer management
_______________________________________
Plot management Yield (t/ha)
Maize only 1.30
Maize + fertilizer trees 3.05
____________________________________________________________
2011 Survey of farms in six districts (Mzimba,
Lilongwe, Mulanje, Salima, Thyolo and Machinga)

17. FaidherbiaGliricidia
Maize
stubble
Faidherbi
a
Gliricidia
Maize
DRY SEASON
WET SEASON
Fertilizer-Fodder-Fuelwood Trees
in Food Crop Production Systems

18. Types of Evergreen Agriculture
1. Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR)
on cropland
2. Conservation agriculture with trees (CAWT)
3. Conventional food crop production interplanted
with trees

19. 17 Countries
engaged in
EverGreen
Agriculture
in Africa
Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration
Conservation Agriculture with trees
Trees interplanted in conventional tilled
cropland
Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration +
Trees interplanted in conventional tilled
cropland

20. EverGreen Agriculture Partnership

22. What do we need to do to fully mobilize
for the upcoming global revolution in
agroforestry upscaling?
• Urgent need to map agroforestry across
the world at global, regional, and national
scales
• Create a Global Agroforestry Assessment
based on national assessments
• Develop a global plan to upscale
agroforestry
• Staff up in linking agroforestry science to

23. Sri Lanka Leadership on
EverGreen Agriculture
1. Participate actively in the Global Partnership
to Create an EverGreen Agriculture
2. Activate a Sri Lankan Network for EverGreen
Agriculture
3. Lead a global effort to upscale
dendrothermal power generation with N-fixing
trees
4. Host an international workshop on
dendrothermal technology in 2015

24. The Perennialization of
Agriculture
… at the heart of a truly sustainable
planet.

25. Total Global Emissions are accelerating
…but land-based emissions are declining
Land-use change black line: Includes management-climate interactions
Source: Le Quéré et al. 2012; Global Carbon Project 2012

27. The Perennialization of
Agriculture
… at the heart of a truly sustainable
planet.

28. The Perennialization of
Agriculture
… at the heart of a truly sustainable
planet.

29. For More Information
World Agroforestry Centre
www.worldagroforestry.org
Evergreen Agriculture web site
www.evergreenagriculture.net
Email contacts:
d.garrity@cgiar.org

30. Channels for Reducing Vulnerability
1. Buffer crop production from drought stress
-- Sustain higher and more stable yields
by more favorable microclimate
-- Conserve and enhance soil organic matter,
infiltration and water holding capacity
2. Tree crops generally less severely affected by
drought, heat, excess water
3. Greater diversity of income sources

31. Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration on crop fields: Initial Stages

32. A Parkland Renaissance on Niger farmlands

33. The albida halo effect
• Microclimate buffering
• Soil fertility improvement

34. Zero Net Land Degradation
Classify all land into three categories:
– Degrading
– Regenerating
– Stable
Monitor land degradation and regeneration in terms
of biomass production.
Calculate the ratio: Regenerating/Degrading
The target is a ratio exceeding 1.0

35. What is Evergreen Agriculture?
A form of more intensive farming that
integrates trees into crop and livestock
production systems.
Evergreen farming systems are ‘double- story’
systems that feature both perennial and
annual species (food crops and trees),
maintaining a green cover on the land
throughout the year.

36. Wheat production with Paulownia trees
> 3 m hectares in China

37. Training for farmer
groups
curricula material for
universities and technical
colleges improved
Improved government
policies
Improved
technical
capacity of
extension
and
government
scaling up
efforts
Improved
communications and
awareness
Provision of
products
and
services by
the Private
sector
Technical and
institutional
capacity built
to support
spread of
EverGreen
Agriculture
Collaboration
between
organisations
supporting
EverGreen
Agriculture
EverGreen Agriculture PartnershipEverGreen Agriculture Partnership