Homegarden agroforestry systems in achievement of Sustainable Development Goals. A review

Abstract

Homegarden, a type of agroforestry system, is one of the earliest thriving traditional food systems reported. Studying the contribution of homegardens in the context of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is crucial when the COVID-19 pandemic has hindered the achievement of many of the crucial SDGs. In this review, we focused on 94 peer-reviewed papers on homegardens from 2010 to 2021 to interrelate them with the corresponding targets and indicators of each SDG. The SDGs were classified into five categories, each focusing on a specific aspect: Category 1 (SDGs 1–5, poverty dimension), Category 2 (SDGs 6–9, development infrastructures), Category 3 (SDGs 10–12, sustainable production and consumption), Category 4 (SDGs 13–15, green infrastructures), and Category 5 (SDGs 16–17, green institutions). The distribution of the 94 papers analyzed was 92%, 23%, 33%, 51%, and 50% in each of the SDG categories, respectively. Category 1 and SDG 2 were found to be most realized in the homegarden literature. Important observations were found that highlight homegardens’ probable use in providing food security, nutritional needs, health and wellness, preservation of agrobiodiversity, and enduring sustainability. Homegardens appear to be an important strategy for attaining the SDGs and can be accomplished with proper planning, in addition to taking into consideration how the traditional societies have sustained it for long. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13593-022-00781-9.

Do carbon stocks and floristic diversity of tropical homegardens vary along an elevational gradient and based on holding size in central Kerala, India?

“…Kumar (2011) in the previously mentioned study also reported average aboveground standing stocks of C in the range of 16-36 Mg ha -1 for trees in the size class above 20 cm GBH, which is broadly consistent with the present observations. The high biomass C stocks indicate the potential of HGs in climate change mitigation strategies (e.g., SDG-13; Sharma et al 2022)…”

“…HGs provide food and nutritional security to the gardeners and represent Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation. Indeed, they provide an effective framework fundamental to C cycle regulation and agrobiodiversity conservation with enormous potential for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs: Sharma et al 2022).…”

Changes in homegardens in relocation villages, a case study in the Baiku Yao area in Southern China

“…Many studies on traditional homegardens are often related to agriculture, ecology, nutrition, botany, and many other fields [ 8 ]. Plant diversity, an important core component of homegarden ecology and function, is also the focus of many researchers [ 9 ]. Homegarden plants are plants with certain functions purposely preserved or cultivated in homegardens [ 10 ].…”

Ethnomedicinal Aspects of Sundanese Traditional Homegarden: A Case Study in Rural Sumedang, West Java, Indonesia

“…In addition, since rural homegarden system have been planted by combination of annual and perennial plants, consist of three, shrubs, vines, and herbaceous species, often in association with livestock, including native chickens, sheep, goats and cows. As a result, the homegardens have various some socio-economic and cultural, and ecological functions, including medicinal, food, ornamental, spiritual wellbeing, fodder, fuelwood; and carbon sequestration in trees and soil, maintaining soil fertility, soil erosion control, and biodiversity conservation (Iskandar et al, 2018;Agustina et al, 2019;Castaneda-Navarrette, 2021;Rachman et al, 2021;Getachew et al, 2022;Sharma et al, 2022;Suwartapradja et al, 2023).…”