1In 1980, a team of tropicalist geographers published L’arbre en Afrique, la fonction et le signe and brought about a paradigm shift. For the first time, trees were no longer perceived as a hindrance but as a central element in African agricultural practices. This was an unexpected wake-up call for agronomists of the Global North. Up until then, trees were best left to foresters or soil scientists who, depending on the case, were seeking to log or replant them to prevent soil erosion. In the 1990s however, researchers found that trees also play a genuine role in traditional agricultural practices. The term “agroforest” began to be used to refer to these farming systems which include trees. For example, in some agroforests of Sumatra, rubber trees and fruit trees are planted simultaneously. In the early years, they supported rice crops, before producing fruit, rubber or firewood. Other agroforests account for 80% to 90% of the island’s animal biodiversity, including a rhinoceros which was thought to be extinct.

2Studies conducted later in Brazil or Cameroon confirmed the prominent role of trees. What outside eyes believed to be isolated trees or natural forests were in fact agroforests. Researchers rediscovered that trees fertilise soils, facilitate the flow of water and carbon storage, or enable biodiversity conservation. By mimicking the ecological model of the tropical rainforest, farmers of the Global South managed to use biodiversity as a way to control crop diseases. Having been overlooked by experts from the Global North, this expertise is now recognised as a model for the future, including in temperate regions. For once, innovation in the Global North takes its cue from practices of the Global South.

••• Studies point to the central role of trees in the agricultural practices of the Global South •••