A recent review of more than 200 peer-reviewed studies finds that agroforestry can sequester between 0.5 and 5.0 Mg of carbon per hectare each year while buffering smallholder farms against heat, drought, erosion, and unstable yields, though its benefits remain highly conditional on local ecology, system design, and supportive institutions. The review, by Abbas and colleagues at Southwest Forestry University and Pu’er University in China, and published in the journal Forests in January 2026, synthesises evidence published between 2000 and 2024 across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, the three regions where most of the world’s smallholder farmers live and where climate vulnerability is highest.
What agroforestry stores and where
The central claim is that integrating trees with crops or livestock builds carbon both above and below ground. The authors report aboveground sequestration of roughly 2.0 to 9.0 Mg of carbon per hectare each year in trees and perennial components, and soil organic carbon gains of 0.3 to 1.5 Mg per hectare each year, with soils accumulating 10-30% more carbon over 10-20 years. Belowground carbon, often overlooked, makes up a substantial share of the total, particularly in deep-rooted perennial systems.
These figures are best read as a wide range rather than a single rate. The review is explicit that outcomes vary greatly by species, climate, and management, as well as the carbon estimate methodology, such as the allometric models used, soil sampling depth, and how long systems are measured. The authors draw on three distinct evidence streams, short-term plot experiments, long-term field measurements, and modelled predictions, and caution against treating them as equivalent.
Adaptation benefits beyond carbon
On adaptation, the evidence points to several reinforcing biophysical effects. Tree canopies lower local temperatures by an estimated 1.5 to 4.0 degrees Celsius and cut evapotranspiration by 10-25%, easing heat stress on crops and livestock. Diversified tree-crop systems raise soil moisture by 15-30% and improve yield stability by 10-35% in rain-fed settings, while contour hedgerows and riparian buffers reduce runoff by 15-50% and erosion by 20-60%. Nitrogen-fixing species lift soil organic carbon and reduce fertiliser dependence over time.
The review highlights yield resilience under stress as a particularly important finding. It cites shade-grown coffee systems in Central America that held 70-80% of their yield through drought, against 40-50% for monocultures. That gain is not free, however, as competition for light, water, and nutrients can depress crop yields by 10-30% during the early establishment phase, making species selection, spacing, and pruning practices critical to the overall result.
The ground-level economic benefits of agroforestry
Economically, the authors frame agroforestry as a risk-limiting strategy and a multi-output production system rather than a single agronomic practice. Diversified outputs of fruit, fodder, timber, and food can raise and stabilise household income by an estimated 15-30% and strengthen food security. The review is candid that these returns often come with higher upfront labour and delayed payback, which can deter risk-averse farmers, and that benefits accrue differently at household, community, and regional scales.
Why adoption lags the evidence
The review’s recurring theme is an implementation gap between proven benefits and limited uptake. Barriers are context-dependent but interrelated: land tenure insecurity and weak market access dominate in Africa, fragmented holdings and policy gaps hinder development in Asia, and economic constraints and competing land uses limit uptake in Latin America. Across all three regions, the authors identify economic limitations and weak institutions as near-universal constraints, while knowledge gaps and tenure issues vary more by region.
Carbon finance is presented as a potential route forward that currently underdelivers for smallholders, who face high transaction costs, as well as complex monitoring, reporting, and verification requirements. The authors point to several practical ways to lower these barriers, including group-based certification through cooperatives, simplified digital monitoring tools, and the inclusion of agroforestry within voluntary carbon standards. Crucially, they stress that sequestered carbon is not inherently permanent: insecure tenure, labour shortages, drought, fire, and volatile carbon markets can all reverse gains, so carbon benefits should be treated as conditional rather than as permanent features.
What this means for investors and policymakers
For investors, development finance institutions, and governments, the review’s message is that agroforestry is a credible climate-smart land-use model whose returns are real but conditional. The economic benefits of agroforestry are real but may require capital and policy support to address the binding constraints the authors identify: secure land tenure; aggregation mechanisms (such as co-operatives and producer organisations) that make carbon finance workable at a smallholder scale; affordable monitoring; and extension services that respect local knowledge. The evidence does not support treating agroforestry as a uniform asset or activity; it supports designing context-specific interventions and pricing in the establishment-phase costs and permanence risks in order to direct capital where it can realistically convert agroforestry’s potential into measurable, lasting outcomes.
At Farrelly Mitchell, our sustainability and agroforestry consultants provide strategic, technical, and commercial expertise to help agribusiness owners, investors, and public institutions make informed decisions and achieve sustainable growth. We support clients in assessing agroforestry and natural capital opportunities, structuring inclusive carbon finance, and designing monitoring and tenure frameworks that make smallholder-scale projects investable and durable. With a proven track record across the food and agribusiness value chain, we combine local market insights with global best practices to optimise your operations, address complex challenges, and capitalise on emerging opportunities. Contact our agribusiness experts today to discuss how we can support your business’ continued growth and profitability.
