A renewed perspective on agroforestry concepts and classification

Agroforestry, the association of trees with farming practices, is progressi vely becoming a recognized land-use discipline. However, it is still percie ved by some scientists, technicians and farmers as a sort of environmental fashion which does not deserve credit. The peculiar history of agroforestry and the complex relationships between agriculture and forestry explain som e misunderstandings about the concepts and classification of agroforestry a nd reveal that, contrarily to common perception, agroforestry is closer to agriculture than to forestry. Based on field experience from several countr ies, a structural classification of agroforestry into six simple categories is proposed: crops under tree cover, agroforests, agroforestry in a linear arrangement, animal agroforestry, sequential agroforestry and minor agrofo restry techniques. It is argued that this pragmatic classification encompas ses all major agroforestry associations and allows simultaneous agroforestr y to be clearly differentiated from sequential agroforestry, two categories showing contrasting ecological tree-crop interactions. It can also contrib ute to a betterment of the image of agroforestry and lead to a simplificati on of its definition. (C) 2000 Academie des sciences/Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.