Agroforestry presents a powerful nature-based solution to build climate resilience, enhance food security, and restore degraded ecosystems in the drylands of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Despite widespread recognition of agroforestry’s benefits, implementation across East Africa remains fragmented. Structural challenges such as insecure land tenure, gender inequities, and under-resourced extension services limit uptake. However, farmer-led approaches like Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) show that locally grounded solutions can deliver tangible impacts at scale.
To realize agroforestry’s full potential and scale agroforestry in East Africa’s drylands, the authors recommend to:
1. Strengthen Policy and Institutional Frameworks for Agroforestry through integrated national policies, by prioritizing dryland-specific strategies and enhancing regional coordination.
2. Increase Funding and Financial Incentives by establishing dedicated financing mechanisms, directly funding dryland communities and providing economic incentives.
3. Invest in Capacity Building and Farmer Support through scaling up extension services and training, strengthening research and innovation and implementing monitoring systems.
4. Secure Land Tenure and Governance by guaranteeing land rights for women and marginalized groups, resolving land-use conflicts.
5. Foster Inclusive Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships by co-developing policies with key stakeholders, greater transparency, addressing market barriers and strengthening
access to ensure smallholder farmers earn fair value and drive green economic growth.