Review: The potential of agroforestry in South Asian countries towards achieving the climate goals

Throughout history, millions of South Asian smallholder farmers have relied on traditional agroforestry techniques. Since last two decades, agroforestry's potential as a carbon sink has been debated in international climate negotiations. Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) offsetting, livelihood provision, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) localization, and achievements towards biodiversity conservation are the areas in which agroforestry plays a pivotal role. This paper reviews the benefits of agroforestry pract ices to human well-being and assesses their contribution on adaptation and mitigation of climate change in South Asian countries. This research delves into the factors that can help or hinder the mainstream adoption of agroforestry systems, which could be used to achieve international goals for reducing consequences of global warming. The South Asian countries who have joined hands in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) recognize the value of agroforestry systems in mitigating global warming. A major enabling condition for ensuring the efficacy of employing agroforestry to achieve climate targets was established in 2016 with the adoption of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) resolution on agroforestry by all regional governments. One of the main obstacles to effectively monitori ng plant and soil carbon stocks is the lack of standardized approaches to database building. Other challenges that should be properly addressed by nations in the region in order to enhance their capacities to accomplish national climate ambitions include water shortages, inadequate governance through interaction, property rights for farmers, legal protections complications, and inadequate financial assistance to small-scale farmers for agroforestry. Strong examples were provided from Nepal and India, encompassing sustainable local economies, carbon-free futures, and financial incentives, all of which point to the need to move from planning to implementation to improve readiness.