As part of the AICCRA, the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) are tasked to develop curricula and training materials to accelerate the mainstreaming of Climate Information Services (CIS) and Climate- Smart Agriculture (CSA) into University’s curricula in Africa. This report describes the activities of a training of trainers’ (ToT) workshop on Indigenous and local trees-based agroforestry systems course module, held on 11-14 April 2023.

Amidst global efforts to combat deforestation, achieve net-zero carbon goals, and comply with rigorous certification standards, agro-industries are facing mounting pressure to substantiate their commitment to sustainable practices. The European Union Deforestation-Free Regulation (EUDR) introduces an extra layer of scrutiny, compelling the adoption of a strategic approach to address environmental concerns.

Agroforestry-based food systems play a critical role in many dryland regions of the word, including Tunisia. These farming systems offer a range of benefits such as diversification of food and income resources for local communities, biodiversity conservation, and environmental resilience. Fig trees, olives, carob, and honey are common features of these Mediterranean agroforestry landscapes, and their produce is a traditional staple in many cuisines.

Sustainable land-use systems (SLUS), such as agroforestry with cocoa, implemented with organic fertiliser, with prescribed post-harvest practices and rainwater irrigation, can potentially increase farm productivity, while reducing pressure on natural resources by decreasing deforestation and providing legitimate incomes for rural households. SLUS also contribute to peacebuilding by providing sustainable income sources and enhancing social cohesion. Despite evidence of their potential and global efforts to promote their use, SLUS adoption rates remain low.

Indicators of CSA practices/technologies are crucial to measure the performance of CSA practices/technologies and use as a guideline for data collection on the evaluation of CSA practices and technologies. Various indicators of CSA practices under the five categories including crop production, livestock production, integrated soil fertility management, erosion control, water management, and forestry/agroforestry management were identified using experts knowledge and literature review.

In the tropics, combining food security with biodiversity conservation remains a major challenge. Tropical agroforestry systems are among the most biodiversity friendly and productive land-use systems, and 70% of cocoa is grown by >6 million smallholder farmers living on <2$ per day. In cacao’s main centre of diversification, the western Amazon region, interest is growing to achieve premium prices with the conversion of high-yielding, but mostly bulk-quality cacao to native fine-flavor cacao varieties, culturally important since pre-Columbian times.