In the opinion piece published in Aktuell Hållbarhet, Agroforestry Network finds it problematic that agroforestry is missing in the proposed policy framework for Swedish future development cooperation.

Agroforestry - planting trees and crops together - is an efficient agricultural management method to address the growing need for food and income without degrading forests. A number of research studies have shown that agroforestry is an effective measure to reduce deforestation, meet the challenges of climate change, poverty, hunger, and protect the world's forests.

Sweden has taken on a leading role for achieving the UN's new sustainability goals. The goals to be achieved in 2030 highlights clearly the important role of forests to address climate change. The Swedish government are therefore, in its new policy framework, giving forest and sustainable use of natural resources more prominence.

Now, the government, lead by the minister Isabella Lövin have a great opportunity to focus efforts on the climate and global food security. It's time for the global community to invest in smart and cost-effective methods, such as agroforestry - a sustainable way out for people in poverty, for the forest and for the climate.

Authors of the opinion piece: Focali members Per Knutsson and Malin Gustafsson, together with Henrik Brundin at Vi-agroforestry, Madeleine Fogde at SIANI, and Anders Malmer at SLU Global.

Read the full opinion piece here (in Swedish).