Multipurpose trees

Paparella, Antonio; Petsakos, Athanasios; Davis, Kristin E.; and Song, Chun. 2025. Multipurpose trees. Agricultural Management Practices to Mitigate Nature Loss Brief 15. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute and Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/177491

Industrialized food systems and commercial forestry, characterized by monoculture practices, have contributed to significant land degradation [1], biodiversity loss [2], and increase in greenhouse gas emissions [3]. As opposed to the detrimental trends caused by monoculture, agroforestry, and growing multipurpose trees in particular, stands out as a production system that provides multiple benefits [4]. Multipurpose trees are frequently distinctive components of agroforestry systems, although they are rare in commercial forestry and conventional agriculture. The conservation ― or cultivation ― of multipurpose trees is often economically motivated in a multiple-output land-use system, but it can also be driven by ecological and environmental reasons. They are deliberately kept and managed for more than one preferred use, product, or service. They provide food, fodder, fuel, and medicine, while also contributing to soil fertility, water conservation, and biodiversity enhancement1