Agroforestry is an important area of work that bridges FAO's work on agriculture and forestry, and other interconnected themes such as restoration, biodiversity, and climate change. Although agroforestry can be generally defined as the intentional integration of trees with agriculture, this only paints a broad picture of an agricultural system that can in reality comprise of a wide variety of land management practices. FAO's work on agroforestry aims to recognize this diversity by emphasizing the importance of enabling conditions, context-specificity and capacity development.

To successfully scale up agroforestry, it is essential to address known gaps and obstacles at technical and institutional levels, including strengthening extension services, improving income generation and establishing enabling environments that value and promoted agroforestry.

FAO provides technical support to the implementation of agroforestry projects around the world, develops knowledge products and guidance materials and raises awareness to ensure that agroforestry is promoted and implemented in a way that maximizes its potential contributions. FAO's three priority areas of support are: