Household Food Security, Farm Trees, and Agroforestry: A Comparative Study in Indonesia and the Philippines

Abstract

Increasing numbers of studies suggest that farm trees and agroforestry practices improve household food security. Some have further speculated that poor farmers are responding to decreasing access to land and declining agricultural productivity by increasing farm tree and agroforestry activities because of the multiple benefits of trees, which are cash crops that demand relatively low levels of labor. This paper argues that the choice to cultivate trees, the decision as to which specific tree species are to be cultivated, and the determination of the spatial and temporal association of those trees with annual crops must all be evaluated on a historical and regional basis. Furthermore, in Southeast Asia. food security and upland farm decisions must be viewed within the broader context of the rice economy - the value people have for consuming rice, and its central position in household production decisions.