Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2019.106569 (2019)

Agroforestry — growing trees along with crops and livestock — has emerged as a way to meet climate goals but has been accompanied by uncertainty over measurement, reporting and verification (MRV).

Todd S. Rosenstock of the World Agroforestry Centre, Democratic Republic of Congo, and colleagues have carried out a desk review of National Communications and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the UNFCCC, as well as conducting key informant interviews to appraise national-level interest in agroforestry and the extent to which it is represented in MRV systems. They find that agroforestry is featured widely in NDCs of African countries and, to a lesser extent, countries in the Americas, Asia and Oceania, but very few countries include explicit quantification of agroforestry in greenhouse gas inventories. Some non-forest trees are included in carbon stock inventories, but the breadth of agroforestry practice is not well represented. Interviews suggest that there are both technical and institutional impediments limiting the inclusion of agroforestry in MRV systems.