1. Climate Change and
Agroforestry Management in
Sri Lanka:
Adverse Impacts,
Adaptation Strategies and
Policy Implications
1

2. Mangala De Zoysa
University of Ruhuna
Sri Lanka
and
Makoto Inoue
The University of Tokyo
Japan
2

3. Background
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4. 4
 Increased rainfall intensity, amount
per day and average per spell
 Mean rainfall projected decrease by
4% in quantity and distribution
 Increase mean air temperature by
0.9 to 4 0C by 2100
 Projected sea level rise
 Sri Lanka falls under „vulnerable‟
small island nations

5.  Farming and forestry threatened by weather-
related phenomena
 Agroforestry adapt climate change through:
– Diversified land-use practices, livelihoods
and sources of income
– Enhancement of agricultural productivity
– Buffering weather-related production losses
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6.  Agroforestry are numerous and found in all
climatic zones in Sri Lanka
 The paper reviewed literature and discusses:
– Impacts of climate change on forest and
agriculture in Sri Lanka
– Agroforestry adaptation to climate changes
and
– policy implications required to promote the
agroforestry adaptation
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7. Adverse Impacts of
Climate Change on
Forest and Agriculture
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8. Endangering Natural Assets
 3.5 m drought affected people given
emergency supply 2000 and 2005
 Drought in 2001 worst hit water for
agricultural and domestic needs
 Irrigation sector affected by
drought
 Forests reduced 36% to 29% (1990
~ 2006) affecting water for
agriculture, power generation and
drinking
 Sea level rise affected coastal
ecosystems
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9. Prevalence of Pests and Diseases
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 RRDI urgently producing rice resistant to
pests and diseases
 Increased pest and disease on coconut
increased investment in pest control
 Invasive Alien Species affecting
agricultural lands
 Livestock with increased temperature
more vulnerable to pests and diseases
 Famers susceptibility to dehydration,
fatigue, hepatitis, typhoid etc

10. Crop Failures and Affect Livestock
 Monsoonal change fall paddy production by 20-
30% in 20 to 30 years
 Reduction of rainfall by 100 mm reduce
productivity of „made‟ tea by 30-80 kg per ha
 Dry spells and cloudiness loss coconut
production
 Increased sea water affect agricultural lands
 Livestock under pressure with competition over
land and water
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11. High Levels of Food Insecurity
 Decrease agricultural productivity in 15% by 2080
 Dry Zone highly vulnerable to drought while Wet
Zone at risk of recurrent floods
 Production in major and minor irrigation schemes
has frequent shortfalls
 Sea water intrusion in coastal areas affect
agriculture
 Farmers in vulnerable areas have lower adaptive
capacity with:
– Poor infrastructure and socioeconomic assets
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12. Risk of Migration into Forest Areas
 Prolong droughts push chena
(Slash and burn) into forest
reserve to find livelihood
 Farmers affected by Tsunami
south, north and east have
moved to forest lands
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13. Adaptation of Agroforestry
to Climate Changes Impacts
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14. Increase Tree Cover Outside Forests
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 Homegardens in 22% of land increase
forest cover and connectivity
 Kandyan Home Gardens cover 40% of
District
 PFP established 9,000 ha
homegardens, 4,000 ha FWL, 1,500
ha PWT and 250 ha miscellaneous
plantings
 Gliricidia as fourth plantation
increase forest cover
 Green villages and Dayata Sevena
promote agroforestry enhanced
canopy cover

15. Enhance Forest Carbon Stocks
 2 m ha of forest store 21 tons of CO2 per ha
 Homegarden is important carbon sinks for
REDD+ Program
– Tree density from 338 in DZ to 2108 per ha
in WZ
 Agroforestry ensure fertile soil in long-run
reduce emissions
 Biomass Energy comes from agricultural lands,
and woodlots is cheap and less emissions
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16. Conserve Biodiversity
 Most species in homegardends are
indigenous with multi-purpose uses
 Kandyan Home Gardens contain more
than 30 different crops, perennial
trees, shrubs etc.
 Beverage crops successfully cultivate
under leguminous and shade trees
 Perennial spices are cultivated in
agroforestry farming systems
 Watersheds and wetland biodiversity
adapt to climate change
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17. Reduce Risk and Intensity of Damage
 “Let us grow, and uplift the nation” and
“Livelihood Development program”
established homegardens
– Reduce living costs, enhanced food
security, and environmentally
friendly agriculture
 Dendro plantations in tea and coconut
lands:
– Reduce soil temperature 10oC
– Maintain soil moisture 60 cm
– Produced wood 15-30 mt per ha
 Strip vegetation reduce salinity in
agriculture lands
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18. Maintain Health and Vitality
 UWMP apply soil conservation with
homegardens
 Agroforestry in steep slopes increase
climate resiliency, and reduce land
erosion
 Kandyan Home Gardens prevent
erosion and floods and increase
carbon sequestration
 Gliricidia under Coconut
– Leaf litter reduces soil
temperature
– Prevent soil erosion and enhance
fertility 18

19. Scale Up ‘Multiple Benefit’
 Homegardens provide alternative
livelihoods
 Farmers select crops considering
profitability, marketing and convenience
 PFP created employment, reduced
poverty and rehabilitated degraded
lands
 Gliricidia in mixed systems enhance soil,
provide animal fodder, grass and biogas
 Wood-based production meet energy,
alleviate poverty, save foreign exchange
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20. Policy Implications
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21. Amend Policy and Legislation
Meeting REDD+ Expectations
 REDD+ based on lost opportunities
 Legislation on agroforestry:
– Reduce unequal treatment for forests or
crops
– Compete with other forms of land use
Dealing with market influences
 Forests disappeared conversing to valued crops
 Legislation for agroforestry management :
– Incorporate forests and trees in production
plans
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22. Market relations and Social responsibility
 Buyers looking for products meeting specific
environmental and social standards
 Participatory and consultative processes of
designing and implementing
Property rights
 Rights and tenure protected by legislation
 Well-defined land, tree and carbon rights:
– Prevent dispute under defined rights
– Provide poor people with legal access to land
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23. Awareness and Capacity Building
 Improve community understanding:
– Climate change and risk
– Effectively manage agroforestry
– Improve livelihoods on sustainable basis
 Advisory and training programs:
– Help farmers to prepare for challenges
– Adopt innovation and technologies
– Communicate outcomes from research
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Strengthening Capacity of Lands
 Revitalize degraded and fragmented forest
and farm lands
 Improve capacity of species and ecosystems
 Strengthen agroforests to:
– Maintain, restore and enhance forest and
farm area, biodiversity, health and vitality
 Integrate crop and forest a hardy system:
– Capable of coping with climate change
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Planning for Climate-smart
Agroforest Landscapes
 Rooted in agriculture, forestry and rural
development
 Contribute agroforestry for Millennium
Development Goals:
– Reduce hunger and improved environmental
management
– Support food security and boost incomes
– Increase productivity and resilience of
agricultural landscapes
 Develop agroforestry strategies to sequester
carbon and reduce GHG emission
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Introduce ‘No-regret’ Options
 Maintain benefits with or without climate change:
– Promoting crop diversity and biodiversity
– Using integrated farming and forestry systems
– Improving post-harvest management
 Priority for options:
– Providing economic and environmental benefits
simultaneously
 Incentives given for measures:
– Reduce GHG emissions simultaneously
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Appropriate Technology Development
 Needed for:
– Monitoring and research
– Adaptation to climate change
 Vary according to:
– Geographic area
– Objectives of management activity
– Scale and intensity of operation
– Local human and financial resources
 Complement conservation and sustainable use of:
– Trees within agricultural landscapes
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Create Climate Change Adjustment Programs
Professional advice and training
 Agroforestry adjust to climate change:
– Access business and management practices
 Adjust advice and training to producers, adversely
impacted, or likely to be impacted
– Set goals and develop action plans to improve
financial circumstances
Increase smallholders’ resilience to shocks
 Transitional income support for agroforestry
businesses adjust to climate change
 New start allowance for participants of programs28

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Form Agroforestry Network
 Formulate and implement agroforestry at
landscape scale:
– Work on environmental services
– Implement community agreements
 Foster local governance and collaboration:
– Voluntary participation of local stakeholders
 Tree planting in agricultural landscape:
– Rehabilitate degraded lands
– Increase yields of small holder farmers
– Contribute CO2 sequestration
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30. Conclusions and
Recommendations
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31.  Climate change impacts by complexity and
magnitude have threatened agricultural and
forest ecosystems in Sri Lanka
 Agroforestry in Sri Lanka play important role in
climate change adaptation and enhancing
resilience
 Agroforestry management with cross-sectoral
and landscape approaches can help local
communities adapt to new conditions caused by
climate change
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