expanding opportunities for agroforestry education in the u.s. and canadian universities
TRANSCRIPT
Agroforestry Systems 12:115-120, 1990. 1 15 © 1990 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.
Regional/Country report
Expanding opportunities for agroforestry education in the U.S. and Canadian universities
SARAH T. WARREN and WILLIAM R. BENTLEY Winrock International Institute.for Agricultural Development, Morrilton, AR 72110, USA
Abstract. A telephone survey of 39 U.S. and Canadian University forestry schools accredited with the Society of American Foresters, conducted in November 1988, showed that 25 had courses in tropical and international forestry, and 14 university faculties had been conducting research in agroforestry. Field-oriented training in agroforestry is also offered in North America, especially for voluntary and relief organization personnel. Many of the agroforestry courses have been established recently in response to desires of students with international interests and/or experience. Most of such courses are integrated programs, initiated by forestry faculty, and most of these are seminars or colloquia incorporating the experience of both faculty and students with focus on systems and issues rather than technical processes. Ideas for agroforestry course content offered by North American forestry faculty include: integration of social and technical aspects of agroforestry and social forestry, involvement of multidisciplinary teams, focus on managing marginal lands, and consideration of the importance of agroforestry systems in North America and other temperate zones.
Introduction
Agroforestry is a useful topic for learning about development in tropical nations and for rejuvenating an understanding of farm forestry in temperate North America. Agroforestry, and the related but different topic of social forestry, require the synthesis of biological and social science concepts and empirical information. These syntheses can be applied in a broad range of land-resource problems; the topic is a rich pedagogical device. Coupled with the interest in and importance of agroforestry in development, we would expect courses to be offered in most forestry and agricultural schools in North America.
A survey on agroforestry education in North America colleges and uni- versities was presented to the Nairobi workshop on professional education in agroforestry in 1982. Surprisingly, the survey reported only one or two agroforestry courses (Mergen and Lai, 1987). Many institutions, however, offered internationally- or tropically oriented courses in which agroforestry was included as a topic but not the focus.
Tab
le 1
. A
gro
fore
stry
an
d i
nte
rnat
ion
al/t
rop
ical
fo
rest
ry c
ou
rse
off
erin
gs
in 3
9 S
AF
-acc
red
ited
fo
rest
ry s
cho
ols
in
No
rth
Am
eric
a,
19
88
-19
89
Ag
rofo
rest
ry
Inte
rnat
ion
al/
Fu
ture
pla
ns
Fac
ult
y A
/F
Fa
rm
Stu
den
t d
eman
d/
cou
rse
Tro
pic
al c
ou
rses
fo
r A
/F c
ou
rse
Res
earc
h
Fo
rest
ry
Dem
og
rap
hic
s
Co
lora
do
Sta
te U
niv
ersi
ty
Y
Du
ke
Un
iver
sity
N
Io
wa
Sta
te U
niv
ersi
ty
N
Lo
uis
ian
a S
tate
Un
iver
sity
Y
Mic
hig
an S
tate
Un
iver
sity
Y
M
issi
ssip
pi
Sta
te U
niv
ersi
ty
N
No
rth
Car
oli
na
Sta
te U
niv
ersi
ty
N
No
rth
ern
Ari
zon
a U
niv
ersi
ty
N
Oh
io S
tate
Un
iver
sity
N
O
kla
ho
ma
Sta
te U
niv
ersi
ty
N
Ore
go
n S
tate
Un
iver
sity
Y
P
enn
sylv
ania
Sta
te U
niv
ersi
ty
N
Pu
rdu
e U
niv
ersi
ty
N
SU
NY
Sy
racu
se
N
Ste
ph
en F
. A
ust
in
N
Tex
as A
&M
Un
iver
sity
Y
U
niv
ersi
ty o
f A
lber
ta
N
Un
iver
sity
of
Ari
zon
a Y
U
niv
ersi
ty o
f B
riti
sh C
olu
mb
ia
N
Un
iver
sity
of
Cal
/Ber
kel
ey
Y
Un
iver
sity
of
Flo
rid
a Y
U
niv
ersi
ty o
f G
eorg
ia
N
Un
iver
sity
of
Idah
o
Y
Un
iver
sity
of
Ken
tuck
y
N
Un
iver
sity
of
Mai
ne/
Oro
no
N
Un
iver
sity
of
Mas
s.,
Am
her
st
N
Un
iver
sity
of
Mic
hig
an
Y
Un
iver
sity
of
Min
nes
ota
Y
Y
- Y
-
I,P
,D
Y
Y
N
- -
- N
N
-
-
- N
N
Y
-
Y
- Y
-
I, P
, D
Y
N
N
Y
D
Y
Y
Y
-
I,P
,D
- N
N
-
/-
y -
y -
_
N
N
N
- D
Y
- Y
N
D
,I
N
N
N
N
- Y
N
N
Y
-
Y
N
N
N
I,P
,D
N
N
N
Y
-
Y
- -
- I,
P,D
Y
Y
Y
-
I,D
Y
- Y
-
I,P
,D
Y
N
N
N
--
Y
- Y
N
I,
P,D
Y
-
Y
- I,
P,D
N
N
-
- -
Y
Y
- -
I,P
,D
N
N
N
N
- Y
Y
-
- P
,D
N
N
- -
-
Y
- Y
-
I,P
,D
Y
- N
D
,P,I
Un
iver
sity
o
f M
isso
uri
N
-
Y
- -
-
Un
iver
sity
o
f M
on
tan
a N
N
N
N
Y
-
Un
iver
sity
o
f B
run
swic
k
N
N
N
N
N
-
Un
iver
sity
o
f T
oro
nto
N
N
N
-
- -
Un
iver
sity
o
f W
ash
ing
ton
N
Y
-
Y
- -
Un
iver
sity
o
f W
isco
nsi
n
N
Y
- N
-
-
Uta
h
Sta
te U
niv
ersi
ty
Y
Y
- Y
-
D,
I, P
Vir
gin
ia T
ech
N
Y
N
N
N
-
Was
hin
gto
n
Sta
te
Un
iver
sity
Y
Y
-
Y
- I,
P,
D
Wes
t V
irg
ina
Un
iver
sity
N
N
N
N
Y
D
Yal
e U
niv
ersi
ty
Y
Y
- Y
N
I,
P,
D
Y
= o
ffer
s co
urs
e(s)
N
= d
oes
n
ot
off
er c
ou
rse(
s)
I =
fore
ign
stu
den
ts
P =
retu
rned
P
eace
C
orp
s V
olu
nte
ers
D
= D
om
esti
c st
ud
ents
= n
ot
ask
ed,
or
no
in
form
atio
n
avai
lab
le
118
Agroforestry education in North America
For this workshop, we contacted 39 U.S. and Canadian forestry schools by telephone in November 1988. These are a sample of the schools accredited by the Society of American Foresters and offering graduate degrees in forestry (Table 1). Of the 39 schools, 14 offered at least one course focusing on agroforestry systems and techniques. Twenty-five of the 39 schools had courses in international or tropical forestry, and 14 indicated that university faculty had been conducting agroforestry research. Cornell University's School of Natural Resources, the University of Hawaii, and the University of Guelph are among non-SAF-accredited schools with active or developing agroforestry programs.
Training in agroforestry principles and techniques is also offered in North America in the U.S. Peace Corps, Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere (CARE), and other voluntary and relief organizations; the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) (a consortium of about 40 North American universities), and various other agencies such as Office of Interna- tional Cooperation and Development (OICD) and the Forestry Support Program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. No formal assessment was made of the agroforestry training and education offered specifically in agricultural or range and natural resource schools, although many of these may be cross-listed with forestry schools in our survey.
Why a dramatic increase in agroforestry courses since 1982?
Agroforestry courses established in the early 1980s probably were started by faculty already conducting agroforestry or agroforestry-related research. Courses established more recently may be responding to desires of the student population. Many faculty described their students as being volun- teers who recently returned from international assignments where they gained hands-on experience, or as foreign students with an interest in development. Where critical mass has developed, demand for agroforestry courses is being met. Some faculty have noted a recent shift, however, toward more of the younger, less-experienced U.S. students who are in- terested in international and interdisciplinary topics.
Faculty with agroforestry research interests have already been mentioned as instructors. Another set comprises those faculty members with little experience in agroforestry, but who have international interests or experi- ence (and in several cases, a domestic agricultural or range focus) and who are able to design suitable courses. Permanent positions are being created in
119
several schools to meet the demand for agroforestry courses. Many schools began their agroforestry courses as integrated programs with other faculties; others have achieved integration of their agroforestry courses with their associated agricultural and range science faculties. The initiative appears in most cases to have come from the forestry faculties.
Most agroforestry courses are offered as seminars or colloquia incor- porating the experiences of both faculty and students. The focus seems to be on issues and systems rather than technical processes. Schools emphasizing domestic agroforestry may give greater opportunity for learning field techniques and procedures. As materials and teaching methods are developed, it would be beneficial to share them. The focus seems to be highly variable, ranging from domestic to international to tropical to combinations of the three.
Guidelines for planning courses
The following ideas are offered for consideration by North American forestry faculties in planning agroforestry courses.
Distinguish between agroforestry as a broad set of land use systems (alley cropping, intercropping, wind breaks, fuel and fodder plantations, and so forth) and as social forestry. The latter includes policy manage- ment and group process techniques and skills required to make many agroforestry schemes work, especially when land tenure is an issue and the rural poor are target beneficiaries.
Involve agricultural specialists, range specialists, social scientists and others in the teaching process. The concepts and knowledge needed for agroforestry systems are missing from many forestry faculties. Agroforestry is a topic where the synthesis of different systems can be demonstrated in a useful and vivid form.
Focus on problems of managing marginal lands, many of which were forest or rangelands until recently. This includes the need to rehabilitate degraded lands and to produce valuable crops for resource-limited people.
Demonstrate the number and variety of agroforestry systems that can be observed in North America and other temperate zones as well as those in the humid, seasonal, and arid tropics.
120
Reference
Mergen F and Lai C (1987) Professional education in agroforestry in North America. In: Zulberti E (ed) Professional Education in Agroforestry, pp 39-55. ICRAF, Nairobi