Agroforestry Systems in India: Bridging Climate Change Mitigation, Biodiversity Conservation and Socioeconomic Resilience

Abstract

Agroforestry systems the deliberate integration of trees with crops and/or livestock on the same land unit represent one of the most versatile and ecologically grounded land-use strategies available to smallholder farmers in India. Despite India's vast agroecological diversity and a national agroforestry policy framework dating to 2014, the multidimensional evidence base linking these systems to climate change mitigation, biodiversity conservation, and socioeconomic resilience remains fragmented and underutilised in policy discourse. This systematic review synthesises peer-reviewed literature published between 2020 and 2025, drawing on 134 studies identified through structured searches across Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, PubMed, and CAB Direct. We examined the performance of six major agroforestry typologies agrisilviculture, silvopastoral, agrosilvopastoral, home garden, taungya, and windbreak systems across five agroclimatic zones of India. Results indicate that agroforestry systems sequester between 7.6 and 18.3 Mg C ha1 yr−1, with agrosilvopastoral systems demonstrating the highest carbon storage potential. Biodiversity analyses reveal significantly elevated species richness, Shannon diversity indices, and soil biota abundances relative to sole-crop systems, particularly in humid tropical and sub-humid zones. Socioeconomic assessments document a 35–70% improvement in household income, a 2.6-month extension in food-secure periods per year, and measurable gains across all five sustainable livelihood capital dimensions following agroforestry adoption. Notwithstanding these benefits, critical barriers persist, including inadequate extension services, insecure land tenure, limited market access, and policy implementation gaps at the state level. This review identifies key research gaps and provides evidence-informed recommendations for practitioners, policymakers, and future researchers seeking to advance agroforestry as a nature-based climate solution in South Asia.