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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Booneville, Arkansas » Dale Bumpers Small Farms Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #436366
Research Project: Innovations for Small Farms Pasture and Silvopasture

Location: Dale Bumpers Small Farms Research Center

Title: Global agroforestry adoption: A meta-analysis of econometric-based studies

Author
item STUBBLEFIELD, KELSI - University Of Missouri
item CAI, ZHEN - Us Forest Service (FS)
item SMITH, MATTHEW - Us Forest Service (FS)
item LOVELL, SARAH - University Of Missouri
item HENDRICKSON, MARY - University Of Missouri

Submitted to: Agroforestry Systems
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/13/2026
Publication Date: 5/26/2026
Citation: Stubblefield, K., Cai, Z., Smith, M.M., Lovell, S., Hendrickson, M. 2026. Global agroforestry adoption: A meta-analysis of econometric-based studies. Agroforestry Systems. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-026-01516-5.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-026-01516-5

Interpretive Summary: Agroforestry provides well-documented benefits such as crop and product diversification, improved soil health, increased water quality, creation of wildlife habitat, and improved landscape resilience (Pantera et al. 2021). Globally, agroforestry systems cover an estimated 1.6 billion hectares, with approximately 78% located in tropical regions and 22% in temperate areas (Nair et al. 2021). In Europe, agroforestry occupies around 15.4 million hectares within the European Union, accounting for about 9% of the utilized agricultural area, with silvopasture being the predominant practice (Augère-Granier 2020). In the United States, the total land area in agroforestry has not been quantified, though data for the number of farm operations exists, with over 32,000 farm operations reporting at least one agroforestry practice (USDA NASS 2024).

Technical Abstract: Agroforestry systems are increasingly recognized as providing multiple economic, ecological, and social benefits. These benefits have led to increases in agroforestry adoption across many regions of the world. Understanding which benefits lead producers to adopt agroforestry, or which challenges discourage adoption, is of critical importance to advance agroforestry implementation. This meta-analysis reviewed agroforestry adoption studies published between January 2000 and June 2024 and identified 94 observations from 76 econometric studies, encompassing research from 30 countries. Trends in number of publications, geographic focus, econometric models employed, and factors that influenced engagement with agroforestry were explored. Results show that most econometric studies analyzed were conducted in Africa, and the logit model was the preferred econometric approach. Of the 23 variables used in the meta-analysis to explore factors that influence engagement in agroforestry, only nine were found to be significant over 50% of the time. Variables most likely to predict agroforestry engagement were available labor, farmer knowledge of agroforestry or tree planting, and farmer contact with extension services. Findings from this study highlight the inconsistency in agroforestry definitions used globally, the complexity of the adoption process, and the inconsistency of variables used to predict agroforestry adoption across studies. The lack of predictive variables highlights the challenge of synthesizing agroforestry adoption data globally, where regional context, such as culture, policy, and geography have unique weight in the adoption process. Findings highlight the need for more regionally based analyses of agroforestry adoption.