Focus Article Agroforestry systems: helping smallholders adapt to climate risks while mitigating climate change Rodel D. Lasco, 1,2∗ Rafaela Jane P. Delfino 2 and Marya Laya O. Espaldon 1 There is increasing interest to combine adaptation and mitigation measures that provide win–win solutions to climate change. Agroforestry systems offer compelling synergies between adaptation and mitigation. This article reviews the empirical evidence from various studies on how trees and agroforestry systems enhance smallholders’ capacity to adapt to climate risks. Agroforestry systems improve resilience of smallholder farmers through more efficient water utilization, improved microclimate, enhanced soil productivity and nutrient cycling, control of pests and diseases, improved farm productivity, and diversified and increased farm income while at the same time sequestering carbon. Although these seems very promising, tradeoffs may arise both at the farm and landscape scales. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. How to cite this article: WIREs Clim Change 2014. doi: 10.1002/wcc.301 THE GROWING CLIMATE CHALLENGE TO SMALLHOLDERS S mallholder farmers are already experiencing changes in weather patterns. The irst installment of the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of Intergovern- mental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) validated previous warnings of global warming caused by anthropological activities. 1 Climate change drives many direct and indirect stressors of agricultural production as well as the ability of ecosystems to provide goods and services. As temperature increase and extreme climate events become more severe, global crop yields may start to decrease from the 2030s; ecosystems and biodiversity may also expe- rience potential losses. 2 The burden will be borne primarily by rural poor populations in developing countries. These communities are highly dependent ∗ Correspondence to: r.lasco@cgiar.org; rlasco@omlopezcenter.org 1 World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Los Banos, Philippines 2 Oscar M. Lopez Center for Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management (OML Center), Pasig, Philippines Conlict of interest: The authors have declared no conlicts of interest for this article. on climate-sensitive sectors—such as agriculture, ishery, and forestry—and face increased vulnerability to climate-related hazards, such as cyclones/typhoons, extreme rainfall, loods, and droughts that cause severe damage and loss of life, livelihood, and properties. 1,2 These events force farmers to face the threats of diminished yields, food security, nutrition, health, and natural resource conservation. 3 This article highlights innovative agroforestry systems (AFS) from different parts of the world and their potential to enhance the resilience of smallhold- ers to climate hazards. It will also discuss their poten- tial for climate change mitigation through carbon sequestration and the tradeoffs associated with their adoption. AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS: AN INTEGRATED CLIMATE CHANGE STRATEGY Agroforestry systems are agricultural systems that use trees and shrubs in land management, crop and/or animal production practiced by an estimated 30% of the global rural population. 4,5 © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.