This presentation was delivered by James Reed (CIFOR) at the World Forestry Congress in Durban.

1. The contribution of forests and trees to food
production in the tropics: A systematic review
James Reed, Samson Foli, Josh van Vianen, Jessica Clendenning, Gillian Petrokofsky,
Kevin Yang, Margaret MacDonald, Christine Paddoch, Terry Sunderland
WFC 2015, Durban. Friday 11th September, 2015

2. Rationale for this review
• Ecosystem services (ES) are regarded as
the structure and functions of
terrestrial, aquatic and marine
ecosystems that result in both goods
and services being produced that
contribute to support human
wellbeing.
• The last three decades has seen an
exponential rise in ecosystem service
related publications.
• This study was designed to assess the
literature base for both the positive
(ES) and negative (EDS) functions of
forests, trees and agroforestry in
relation to food production.

3. Objectives
 Review and synthesize the currently fragmented
evidence base
 Identify in which scenarios forests and trees are
impacting food production
 Identify where evidence gaps exist
 Provide evidence that will help guide future
research efforts and policy making decisions

4. Methods
Develop search terms… ..and apply to literature
sources
Main terms:
Forest, ecosystem service,
Farm system, food production

5. Methods
Exclusion Criteria:
• Non-English studies.
• Non-empirical evidence. Literature reviews, conceptualizations, and
opinion pieces may be used to cross-reference comprehensiveness of
the search strategy but are excluded from the final review, as are
projections and scenario models.
• Studies of ecosystem servicing provision at a global scale.
• Studies which fall outside the geographic scope of the review (humid
and dry tropics).

6. Review statistics
63,253 scoping results in WoK
using expanded search terms
7,576 Publications captured with
refined search terms
All TITLES screened
321 results from initial main search
terms trialed in WoK
1,314 Relevant studies
All ABSTRACTS screened
240 Relevant studies
All FULL TEXTS screened
85 Final studies of relevance

7. Results

8. Results

9. Results

10. Results

11. Conclusions
• The temporal and spatial scales of the studies identified in this review
point to clear gaps in the current understanding of the contribution of
forest and trees to agriculture
• The majority of studies were conducted in AFS < 4Ha. and over < 3
year study periods
• The majority of studies showed an overall net positive effect of tree
presence on one or more of the following parameters: yield, resource
maintenance, biodiversity and income
• Findings reveal that the provisioning of forest ecosystem services to
food production do not act in isolation and a range of potential
outcomes and trade-offs should be considered in management
strategies

12. Implications for future research
 investigate the effect of off-farm trees and forest patches
on proximate food production systems.
 examine the role of forest ecosystem service provision
over greater spatial and temporal scales.
 assess how these services interact with other system
functions.

13. Implications for policy and
practice
• Decision-makers and practitioners need to recognize the
value of incorporating trees on and off-farm (both
economic and ecological)
• Decision-making and management needs to be
contextualized
• Policy should consider how best to acknowledge and
reward practitioners of integrated farming

14. Thank you for your attention
For any further information:
James Reed: j.reed@cgiar.org