New guide to tree inventories on small farms for better livelihoods

©Benjamin Caldwell18 June 2021, Rome – A new FAO-supported guide launched today aims to boost the income of family farmers while increasing tree cover on the world’s smallholder farms.

Taking stock: what we grow together counts helps producer organizations representing smallholder farmers to gather data on trees on farms and develop commercial tree inventories. These inventories can be used to inform business plans for forest and timber products, providing family farmers with an additional source of income alongside crops and livestock, while also helping to achieve sustainable development goals.

“Supporting smallholder and family farmers to manage forests and trees more effectively – for example with restoration, afforestation and reforestation – is good for their livelihoods and for the planet,” said the guide’s author, FAO Forestry Officer Benjamin Caldwell.

Smallholder farmers – whose farms cover two hectares or less – manage about half the world's arable land.  Most family farmers already make a quarter of their incomes from natural forests and plantations, generating billions of dollars in forest and timber products.

“Collectively, smallholders have the transformative potential to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals, the Global Forest Goals and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for mitigating climate change as part of the Paris Agreement,” said Caldwell.

Power of data
Gathering better data about trees on farms through a tree inventory allows producer organizations and their members to draft an evidence-based business plan, better manage their forests, and negotiate higher prices based on assured volumes. From this, producer organizations are more readily able to access loans and financial services.

Once they obtain better prices for trees, farmers are incentivized to plant more of them. In turn, this will support national goals to increase tree cover and restore degraded land – in line with global goals to combat climate change and protect, restore, and promote the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems.

With guidance from their producer organizations, family farmers can be drivers of improving tree cover overall. Farmers, in turn, benefit from a diversified portfolio beyond annual crops and livestock. Working collectively with the producer organization allows the benefits – profit and reforestation – to accrue at scale.

The guide is developed by the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF), a partnership between FAO, the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and AgriCord.

Download the full report here.

last updated:  Friday, June 18, 2021