Advances and challenges of agroforestry systems in Brazil for environmental recovery and sustainable production

Abstract

In the context of agribusiness, considering socioeconomic and environmental crises exacerbated by dominant agricultural production methods, agroforestry systems (AFSs) emerge as an alternative to combine production with environmental recovery and conservation. This study aimed to analyze trends, gaps, and applications of AFSs in the recovery of degraded areas and sustainable production, based on articles published between 1990 and 2023. Bibliometric and qualitative analyses were conducted on 155 articles available in online databases. AFSs are agroecosystems that integrate the production of perennial tree(s) with those of other species. A growing interest in AFSs has been identified due to their significant, yet underutilized, socioeconomic and environmental potential for production, for cost reduction, and for accelerated  recovery of degraded areas, including legal reserves (LRs) and permanent preservation areas (PPAs). Although superior to mono-activity systems in socioeconomic and environmental aspects, AFSs do not replace native vegetation, particularly for protecting biodiversity and producing ecosystem services. Thus, the results suggest the need to expand research and adopt AFSs as a tool to promote the sustainable development of agribusiness.