Economical Analysis of Agroforestry Systems

Abstract

After a definition of the economic principles of agroforestry (AF) the goals aimed by this system and the direct and indirect productivities connected with these goals are described. The economic peculiarities result from the special connection in peasant farming systems which are characterized by a strong domination from direct claims of the household on the farming organization, and by the fact of only partly commercialized farming. At the same time the adoption problems connected with the production principles of agroforestry are made clear, which result from the mixed cropping character of agroforestry with its manifold claims on daily and seasonal working organization, on the other hand from a periodic output over several years. Finally the method used to evaluate indirect productivity without market prices in the agroforestry economy system as well as the consideration of the output to be expected in the future are discussed. On the base of gross margin calculations, the question arises after derivation of an extended gross margin and with consideration of the periodic character of AF after the derivation.