The benefits of agroforestry are numerous: run-off and soil erosion are reduced; soil ecosystems (microorganisms and macrofauna) and structures are improved, encouraging the availability of water and nutrients; habitats or corridors for the movement of many species (including auxiliary species useful for biological pest control) are provided and products (and thence revenue sources) at farm scale are diversified. In some cases, mixed farming increases overall productivity compared with monocultures because the ecological niches of the different species are complementary.
The 2019 IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land also identified agroforestry as an available potential lever to mitigate and adapt to climate-change.
(From https://www.inrae.fr/en/news/agroforestry-trees-provide-way-forward-sustainable-farming)
