27 March 2019, New York, United States – The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) hosted a workshop with the Maryland-based organization Trees for the Future on the topic of diversifying nutrition and income sources. This was the second workshop of a three-part series on Using Agroforestry to Meet Sustainable Development Goals sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Sweden’s programme “Leveling the Playing Field”. 

Mr. Pelayo Alvarez delivered the welcoming remarks and opened the “Diversifying Nutrition and Income Sources” workshop on behalf of UNITAR. This workshop focused on important nutritional needs and a discussion on how to meet the needs of farmers, their families and their communities by optimizing small farms and market gardening. Executive Director John Leary and Training Program Coordinator Olivier Allongue led the diverse group of attendees through a series of presentations and practical trainings including the Kebe Case Study which instructed attendees on how to design a Forest Garden. Attendees were introduced to the basics of growing fruit trees in tree nurseries in, as well as the capacity building exercises used to train Forest Garden farmers.

Attendees were able to review different planting techniques to understand the optimal conditions for crops to maximize yields and optimize land. The final session encouraged attendees to design guilds and conduct “Market Gardening” in groups to identify points of lean times and market opportunities, as well as the decisions that go into planning a collective permagarden.

The final workshop in the Using Agroforestry to Meet Sustainable Development Goals will focus on the optimization of small farms. The final session will mark the completion of the recommended training required for attendees to acquire the key agroforestry techniques and training facilitation skills required to pass the Forest Garden Certification Exam.