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

1. James Reed, Samson Foli, Josh van Vianen, Jessica Clendenning, Gillian Petrokofsky,
Christine Paddoch, Terry Sunderland (CIFOR)
World Forestry Congress, Durban, September 9th 2015
The contribution of forests and trees to food production in the
tropics: a systematic review

2. Rationale for this review
 Ecosystem services (ES) are regarded as the
structure and functions of terrestrial 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 (see
next slide).
 This study will assess the literature base for both
the positive aspects (ES) and negative functions
(EDS) rendered to agriculture from forests, trees
and agroforestry.

3. Preliminary results

4. Lessons learned
• 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