World Agroforestry Centre

World Agroforestry Centre (also known as the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry)

"We use science to generate knowledge on the complex role of trees in livelihoods and the environment, and foster use of this knowledge to improve decisions and practices impacting on the poor."

"The International Council for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) was created in response to a visionary study in the mid-1970s led by forester John Bene of Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC). The study coined the term 'agroforestry' and called for global recognition of the key role trees play on farms. This led to the establishment of ICRAF in 1978 to promote agroforestry research in developing countries.

"During the 1980s ICRAF operated as an information council focused on Africa. It joined the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) in 1991 to conduct strategic research on agroforestry at a global scale, changing its name from Council to Centre. After joining the CGIAR, the Centre explicitly linked its work to the goals of the CGIAR—reducing poverty, increasing food security and improving the environment—through two means: overcoming land depletion in smallholder farms of subhumid and semi-arid Africa, and searching for alternatives to slash-and-burn agriculture at the margins of the humid tropical forests. In implementing this strategy, the Centre expanded into South America and Southeast Asia while strengthening its activities in Africa.

"ICRAF continued the process of institutional transformation by developing a science culture, building excellent research facilities and doubling its financial and human resources by 1996. The Centre formally adopted an integrated natural resource management framework for all of its work, and institutionalized its commitment to impact by creating a Development Group dedicated to moving research results onto farmers' fields.

"In 2002 the Centre acquired the brand name the ‘World Agroforestry Centre’. The ‘International Centre for Research in Agroforestry’ remains our legal name and we continue to use the acronym ‘ICRAF’."


 * Dennis Garrity - Director General
 * Tony Simons - Deputy Director General
 * Michael Hailu - Director of Communications
 * Laksiri Abeysekera - Director of Finance

Trustees
Accessed April 2008:


 * Lynn Haight - Chair
 * Dennis Garrity
 * Dina Nath Tewari
 * Cristian Samper
 * Juan Mayr
 * Kiyoshi Tanaka
 * Linxiu Zhang
 * Sara Scherr
 * Barbara Wells
 * Ragnhild Lund
 * Romano Kiome
 * Eric Tollens

Sponsors
Accessed April 2008:


 * Asian Development Bank
 * Australia
 * Austria
 * Belgium
 * Biodiversity Transect Monitoring Analysis in Africa
 * Canadian International Development Agency
 * CARE International
 * Center for Development Research, University of Bonn
 * Centre for Natural Resources and Development, UK
 * Centre technique de cooperation agricole et rurale (CTA)
 * Common Fund for Commodities
 * Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development (CIIFAD)
 * Denmark
 * Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit
 * European Union
 * Finland
 * Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
 * Ford Foundation
 * Forest Action Network
 * France
 * German Development Service
 * Global Mountain Programme
 * Indonesia Forest Seed Project
 * International Atomic Energy Agency
 * International Development Research Centre
 * International Foundation for Science
 * International Fund for Agricultural Development
 * Ireland
 * Italy
 * Japan
 * Kenya Agricultural Research Institute
 * Netherlands
 * New Zealand
 * Norway
 * Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation
 * Overseas Development Institute
 * Oxford Forestry Institute
 * Regional Land Management Unit
 * Rockefeller Foundation
 * Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
 * Service Centre for Development Cooperation
 * Spain
 * Sweden
 * Switzerland
 * Technical Committee of the Global Water Partnership
 * Thailand
 * Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Programme
 * United Kingdom
 * United Nations Environment Programme
 * United States Agency for International Development
 * United States Department of Agriculture
 * University of Wisconsin System
 * Winrock International
 * World Bank
 * World Food Prize Programme
 * World Resources Institute
 * World Vision

Contact

 * Web: http://www.worldagroforestry.org

Related Sourcewatch articles

 * Eugene Terry
 * International Women's Media Foundation
 * Dagmar Timmer