What’s the Problem?

• Accelerated erosion from poor farming practices accounts for 1.1 billion tons of carbon emissions annually.
• All of the world’s topsoil could be gone in 60 years.

How Can Building Healthy Soil Help?

• Agroforestry systems that prevent or reduce erosion on slopes include plantation polycultures, homegardens and multistrata systems, alley cropping and contour hedgerows, and silvopasture.
• One study found that multistory tree gardens actually had less erosion than a natural rain forest!

Sources

• FAO – Land husbandry – Components and strategy
• Lal – Abating Climate Change and Feeding the World Through Soil Carbon Sequestration
  Option to request from Dr. Lal
• Nair – An Introduction to Agroforestry
• Young – Agroforestry for Soil Conservation