"At the global level, agroforestry is increasingly recognized as an important climate change adaptation and mitigation practice by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change," said Frank Place, Impact Assessment Advisor for the World Agroforestry Centre.

"It is one of the most effective land use systems in storing carbon above and below ground."

Agroforestry is both a contemporary and an age-old practice, but there are many missed opportunities to further enrich the lives of smallholder farmers.

Underinvestment in agroforestry comes about because of poverty levels and the risks faced by smallholder communities, together with poor information flow, germplasm availability, credit, and markets.

These are all factors that policy changes can address. Improved policies would see better coordination among different ministries such as agriculture, environment, water and lands.

This would promote clear tenure rights to land, forests, and trees, thus improving farmer access to agroforestry information and germplasm, and creating integrated competitive markets free from exploitation and abuse by monopolies, unreasonable taxation and access barriers.

In a complementary move, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) convened a workshop in Rome in 2010 that initiated the development of agroforestry guidelines for national policies and decision making.

The regional approach that was agreed on under the leadership of FAO will be supported by an international task force including key development and research institutions such as the World Agroforestry Centre.

"Countries would work together and policies would evolve, aiming at ownership by the beneficiaries," said Michelle Gauthier, of FAO's Forest Conservation Service.

"Dialogue between scientific research and policy development would make agroforestry an effective contributor to national economies and poverty alleviation."

"For agroforestry to thrive, what is needed is an intensification of the trend to devolve land and forest tenures to local people; to complete the transition from exclusion to ownership," noted August Temu, director for Partnerships at the World Agroforestry Centre.

"It is also vital to develop smarter and harmonized forestry and agriculture policies that do not inadvertently affect tree management on farms, to recognize the environmental services generated by agroforestry, and reward farmers who nurture the trees that provide these services."

The right incentives and opportunities for long-term investment in agricultural improvements, such as trees on farms that can improve and sustain agricultural production, have been absent in many developing countries.

Turning this around will directly support efforts to eradicate poverty and hunger, and ensure environmental sustainability.