World Agroforestry Centre | Transformations Online

IN THIS ISSUE
Agroforestry to Meet the Paris Agreement
ICRAF Viet Nam Celebrates 10 Years
Impacts Through Agroforestry in Northwest Viet Nam
ASEAN Working Group on Social Forestry Technical Partners’ Meeting
Upcoming Events
A Sampling of Recent Stories
New Videos
New Publications
ICRAF in the News

Agriculture was a key agenda item during the Twenty-third Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP23) in November in Bonn, Germany. Several scientists from the World Agroforestry Centre took the opportunity to present their research findings at many of the side events, mostly highlighting the benefits that agroforestry brings to the fight against climate change.
 
Our guest author, Tony Bartlett, ACIAR’s Forestry Research Program Manager, discusses the impacts that agroforestry has had in North West Viet Nam. During the ASEAN Working Group on Social Forestrytechnical partners’ meeting, held in Indonesia, the World Agroforestry Centre was tasked to develop high-level guidelines for member states to design and implement agroforestry policies. Watch how the Accelerating the Adoption of Agroforestry Project, also known as the Triple A, works with key groups in Kenya to reach thousands of households. This project aims to identify best practices in agroforestry for farmer-to-farmer learning championed by elected lead-farmers. Also look out for the story on how ICRAF is working with farmers in Indonesia to cultivate sandalwood as part of the Indonesia Rural Economic Development project.
 
ICRAF’s Viet Nam office celebrated its 10th Anniversary with a number of key events. The organization signed an MoU with the Viet Nam Farmers’ Association a group that plays a key and central role in farmers’ movements in the country. This event was aired on VTV1. In addition, ICRAF’s Director General, Tony Simons, and Country Coordinator, Delia Catacutan,h were interviewed by VTC10 Television. During the interview, the two highlighted the organization’s key activities in the region. The achievements of ICRAF-Viet Nam in transforming lives in South Asia with agroforestry in a short period of 10 years are truly commendable. Congratulations to the entire team for their determination and dedication.
 
The first quarter of 2018 promises to be an eventful period. The World Agroforestry Centre will, during the first month, participate in the Second CGIAR General Assembly in Morocco. A month after that, the organization will be involved in a number of key events including the Second European Symposium on Pollarding, Africa Climate Smart Agriculture Summit and an international conference, Working Across Sectors to Halt Deforestation and Increase Forest Area.

The Centre continued to enjoy extensive media coverage in the past few months. News stories covering our activities in Asia, America and Africa were carried in The Economist, Mongabay, Viet Nam News and other outlets. During this same period, the World Agroforestry Centre produced over 100 publications on its activities. Read about the factors affecting adoption of smallholder agroforestry systems in Indonesia, and how the Land Degradation Surveillance Framework was used to assess the extent vegetation characteristics contribute soil functions that are key to farmers’ livelihoods.
 
We’d like to wish our readers all the best for the festive season, and look forward to sharing more exciting stories in 2018!

Agroforestry to Meet the Paris Agreement

In a groundbreaking—though long overdue—decision, national delegates at the Twenty-third Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 23), held 6–17 November 2017 in Bonn, Germany, agreed on a framework for addressing agriculture’s impact on climate. The framework includes assessing soil health, soil carbon and water management, nutrient use and manure management, and the impact of climate change on socio-economics and food security. Read more...>

ICRAF Viet Nam Celebrates 10 Years

2017 has been a special year for ICRAF in Viet Nam. The country office celebrated its 10th Anniversary on 1st December in the presence of the Board of Trustees, Senior Leadership Team and other colleagues from its headquarters in Nairobi. The occasion was graced by Dr. Le Quoc Doanh, Vice Minister of Viet Nam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and witnessed by key national partners from government agencies, NGOs, multilateral organizations and the donor community in Hanoi. Read more...>

Impacts Through Agroforestry in Northwest Viet Nam

In the northwest of Viet Nam the predominant farming system practised on large areas of very steep land involves monocropping of hybrid maize, which is mostly used for animal feed. This approach results in widespread soil erosion, a progressive decline in crop productivity and ongoing degradation of remnant forests. Read more...>

ASEAN Working Group on Social Forestry Technical Partners' Meeting

During the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Working Group on Social Forestry technical partners’ meeting, held in Bali, Indonesia on 11-14 November 2017, representatives of ICRAF Southeast Asia, Center for International Forestry Research, RECOFTC The Center for People and Forests, Non-Timber Forest Products Exchange Program and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture met with the Working Group Secretariat and representatives of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation to mark achievements to date in the third phase of the ASEAN-Swiss Partnership on Social Forestry and Climate Change project and plan for its final two years. The Working Group is made up of senior officials of forestry ministries of the member states, who are supported by these technical and financial partners. Read more...>

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