We live in a world of escalating challenges that amplify each other in alarming ways.
These can only be met through inclusive, science-based approaches. And trees – whether in forests or on farms – are a key part of the solution.
The Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) works at the nexus of five interconnected areas where trees can make a difference:
Trees connect land and climate, farms and forests, economies and resilience, and people and planet. CIFOR-ICRAF connects science with action, creating solutions from the ground up through inclusive partnerships, transdisciplinary research, and demand-driven innovation.
Vision: An equitable world in which viable livelihoods in resilient landscapes foster well-being for people, trees and the environment.
Mission: To harness the power of science and innovation to improve the benefits that forests, trees, soils and their sustainable management can provide to all of humankind, for a more resilient, equitable and prosperous future.
How we work
Our approach includes three innovations that will deliver game-changing solutions in response to global and national challenges and opportunities:
- Transformative Partnership Platforms – alliances focused on critically important challenges
- Engagement Landscapes – geographic locations where we carry out concentrated, long-term transformative work with diverse and committed partners
- Flagship Products – initiatives that provide action-oriented insights into key global issues
Supported by our new institutional structure, our long-established partnerships and the diverse skills of our more than 800 staff working across 60 countries, we provide actionable solutions to address local challenges and opportunities while solving global problems.
Our network
The entities of the CIFOR-ICRAF network reinforce and advance our shared aim to unlock the potential of trees and forests to combat global crises. As the leading global movement on sustainable landscapes, the Global Landscapes Forum has connected 1.5 billion people, from remote Indigenous communities to large multilateral donors. Resilient Landscapes is fast becoming the nexus between science and businesses, finance, governments and civil society. And the Global Partnership for Forests, Trees and Agroforestry has entered a new phase of collaboration.
Our history
Born of the merger of the most trusted research organizations on forests and trees – the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and World Agroforestry (ICRAF) – CIFOR-ICRAF harnesses more than 75 years of combined expertise and extensive partnership networks across Africa, Asia and Latin America.
In December 2021, CIFOR and ICRAF completed a three-year programmatic and operational merger process. While maintaining separate legal entities, CIFOR-ICRAF now operates under a single governing Board and single leadership team, with a joint regional structure and five joint research themes, all guided by the CIFOR-ICRAF Strategy 2020–2030. The functional merger brings together more than 75 years of combined expertise, over 800 staff working in 60 countries across the Global South, offices in 27 countries, 14 host country agreements, nearly 200 active partnerships, and intellectual assets published in some 25,000 research products. CIFOR and ICRAF are CGIAR Research Centers.
Innovations
We deliver game-changing solutions to global and
national challenges through three innovative approaches:
