Agroforestry for Natural Resource Conservation, Livelihood Security and Climate Change Mitigation in Himalayan Agroecosystems

Agroforestry is widely known to increase resilience and reduce vulnerability of agricultural production systems to climate change effects. Agroforestry may potentially improve livelihood through simultaneous production of food, fodder, timber and firewood as well as mitigation and adaptation to climate change. This chapter critically examines the role of agroforestry in natural resource (soil, water, nutrients, biodiversity) conservation, livelihood security (goods and services to society), providing social and economic well-being to people and carbon sequestration. Moreover, the role of agroforestry is more pronounced and relevant in degraded and fragile agroecosystems, such as the Himalayas. Agroforestry in the Himalayas contributes significantly to ecological, social and economic functions and serves as complementary to natural forests. Therefore, a winning strategy for natural resource conservation and human welfare in the fragile Himalayas can be achieved by promoting scientific agroforestry practices to reconcile food production with conservation in climate change scenario. Agroforestry needs to be strengthened by developing appropriate innovative technologies, community participation, domestication, strong policy support and establishing strong market linkages. Similarly, efforts are needed to promote science-based decision-making, and future thrust is required to remove the remaining uncertainties and to also carefully test the agroforestry practices against other land uses in Himalayan ecosystems in order to know their suitability and to what extent agroforestry can serve mankind and ecosystems.