Managing trade-offs in agroforestry : from conflict to collaboration in natural resource management

Abstract

Scientific and lay conceptions shape recommendation domains, no less so for agroforestry than for other areas of natural resource management. The belief that trees are by definition ecologically-benign and socially-neutral has led to the unqualified promotion of certain fast-growing and economically profitable tree species in the eastern African highlands. Yet ethnobotanical research in the eastern African highlands highlights a number of negative social and environmental impacts from trees. Following a brief introduction to the nature of these impacts, the chapter is dedicated to a discussion of approaches being developed under the umbrella of the African Highlands Initiative to make explicit and to manage the trade-offs inherent in species selection. It also highlights some promising avenues through which a more nuanced and sociallyinformed agroforestry may evolve.