Agroforestry is the intentional combination of agriculture and forestry to create productive and sustainable land use practices. These practices take advantage of the interactive benefits from growing trees and shrubs together with crops and/or livestock. Agroforestry has its roots in tropical food production systems. In regions with more temperate climates, agroforestry is separated into five distinct but related practices. The five practices are windbreaks, riparian forest buffers, alley cropping, silvopasture and forest farming (USDA National Agroforestry Center). 

The Southwest Agroforestry Action Network (SWAAN) formed in 2018 with the purpose of sharing information about agroforestry, connecting potential collaborators and partners, and generating ideas, research and initiatives that advance adoption of agroforestry in the Southwest U.S. The geographic scope includes all communities and all landownerships in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah (Tribal, State, Federal, County, Municipal, and Private). SWAAN held their first meeting in Farmington, NM in June 2019. Included below are a list of presentations from that meeting and the SWAAN Mission, Motto and goals that were agreed upon during discussions at that meeting. 

Mission: Helping people integrate trees, crops, and animals to regenerate Southwest landscapes

Motto: Planting water, growing trees, feeding communities

Goals:

• Share information and engage people & communities

• Cultivate new ideas, research, initiatives, and demonstrations

• Advance adoption of agroforestry

Join  SWAAN: To join, please send an email to Andy Mason (acmason1954 [at] gmail.com) and Caiti Steele (caiti [at] nmsu.edu), and they will add you to the mailing list. 

Presentations:

Agroforestry in the Semi-arid Sahel of Africa How Trees Help Farmers Improve Their Livelihoods – Steven Franzel, World Agroforestry

Dryland Agroforestry in the Southwest: Some Current Practices and Prospects for the Future – Jim Allen, School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University

Introducing the Association for Temperate Agroforestry – Jim Allen, School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University

Introducing the Hopi Tutskwa Permaculture Institute – Jacobo Marcus, Director, Hopi Tutskwa Permaculture Institute

New and Different Partnerships Through Agroforestry – John Munsell, Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, Virginia Tech

Permaculture: the Best Way to Assure Water for our Future – Grant Curry, Permaculture Provision Project

Promoting Agroforestry in the Southwest – Rafael de Grenade

Silvopastoral Systems in the Southwest – Andrés F. Cibils, Department of Animal and Range Sciences, New Mexico State University

Temperate Agroforestry in the 21st Century: A North American Perspective – Shibu Jose, The Center for Agroforestry, University of Missouri

USDA-NRCS and Agroforestry – Joe Alley, Missouri NRCS State Forester

Who Else is Interested in Agroforestry? – Richard Straight, USDA National Agroforestry Center