Farm Forestry: An Alternative to Government-Driven Reforestation in the Philippines

Background

This study reviews literature and various case studies about growing trees at the farm level by rural farmers. In the Philippines, millions of dollars have gone to employ people to plant trees as part of reforestation programs while only about 10% of those planted areas are successful. The authors assert that paying people to plant trees is unsustainable and often hindered by the lack of prompt release of funding.

Conclusions & Takeaways

The six case studies presented demonstrate that the farmers' household needs for fuelwood and other products was a strong enough incentive for them to grow trees on their farms. Much tree use involved intercropping with agricultural crops and livestock. The farmers used nitrogen fixing trees to improve their soil and supply supplemental nutrition to their grazing animals. The authors suggest that this "bottom-up"  tree planting by rural farmers is more effective in the long-run than "top-down" government initiatives to plant trees.