Agroforestry and Ecological Restoration for Agricultural Landscapes

The Republic of Panama provides a critical link in global trade via the Panama Canal and is one the fastest growing economies of Latin America. However, Panama suffers from stark economic disparities. Extreme poverty is high in rural areas, especially in indigenous territories. Economic opportunities are sparse and landowners often rely on conventional agriculture and cattle ranching practices that involve the cutting and burning of forests to plant annual crops and pasture grasses. When practiced on marginal, steeply sloped land, soils quickly erode and lose fertility, resulting in low agricultural production and biodiversity loss. Consequently, a third of Panama’s agricultural lands are highly degraded, which severely impairs the ability of these areas to generate ecosystem services such as soil fertility, provision of water, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity - all of which enable human wellbeing. While advances in ecological practices such as agroforestry have been shown to enhance production and ecosystem services in farms, they are uncommon due to the lack of information and incentive available.

Given this context, rural landholders can benefit from capacity development and access to information about more sustainable land use practices to adapt to climate change. Invited by the Panamanian Government, the United States Peace Corps helps to address this need by sending professionals to “work at the grassroots level toward sustainable change that lives on long after their service (USPC 2017).” Volunteers are assigned for a two-year period to rural communities that request Peace Corps assistance and work in collaboration with Panamanian partners. The cultural exchange and development assistance that PCVs provide is critically important for empowering rural people to make informed and sustainable decisions.

This intensive field-based course aims to provide participants with the knowledge to implement ecological restoration and agroforestry systems. ELTI will offer the training to both PCVs and their respective community counterparts from throughout Panama, who are interested in conducting restoration activities. This field-based course will be facilitated at ELTI’s Training Landscape, a network of field sites that include applied research projects, demonstration trails, field exercises, and model farms with local landholders. ELTI’s field courses are organized around the components of the training landscape so that participants can learn in a practical and hands-on manner. Participation will be by invitation only.