Agroforestry Systems 6:253-270 (1988) © Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht - Printed in the Netherlands 253 The agroforestry systems database at ICRAF P.A. ODUOL, P. MURAYA, E.C.M. FERNANDES and P.K.R. NAIR International Council for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) P.O. Box 30677, Nairobi, Kenya 1. Introduction ICRAF undertook a global inventory of agroforestry systems during the period 1982-1987 [Nair, 1987]. The purpose of the inventory was to syste- matically collect data on important and promising agroforestry systems. The method consisted of data collection (through collective efforts of ICRAF, a group of qualified Regional Coordinators from different geo- graphical regions, and other voluntary agroforestry supporters), data eva- luation and publication of salient results. The Agroforestry System Descrip- tion (AFSD) series published regularly from 1984 in Agroforestry Systems is one of the major outputs of the project. Another important output is a computerized database called Agroforestry Systems Register. This paper describes the organization of this Agroforestry Systems Inventory (AFSI) database. 2. The rationale of the database Agroforestry is one of the most widely-practised land-use systems in the world. Yet it is also one of the least scientifically-studied. Various difficulties were encountered in collecting information on these traditional systems from various parts of the world, by different types of people for the inven- tory. The basic survey instrument for the inventory was a questionnaire (Appendix I). It consisted of a long array of subject areas, broadly cat- egorized into: -- general description of the system -- geographical location -- bio-physical characteristics -- socio-economic aspects -- components and their uses