The Way Towards Getting Back Financial Benefits from Agroforestry Systems and Improving Food Security (The Case of Arasbaran Biosphere Reserve)

Aims: Food security depends on the sustainable use of natural resources. Recently, local communities have started planting sumac (Rhus coriaria L.) as an agroforestry system in Iran's arid and semi-arid regions. The financial benefit of converting sloping lands to the sumac agroforestry system was compared with cropping cereals land-use option based on wheat and barley production. The study site is located in a semi-arid area in the Eastern part of the Arasbaran Biosphere reserve in Hurand county, East Azerbaijan province, Iran. Instruments & Methods: Data were collected through a combination of socio-economic survey and field inventory. For the household questionnaire survey, 63 samples from four villages were purposively selected. Those who converted low yield croplands to sumac agroforestry system and collected it. Findings: Results showed that sumac collection varied from 144kg in Mollalu to 776kg in Tabestanagh per household annually. Sumac income contributes about 30-40% to total household income, followed by farming and off-farm activities. The net present value of sumac was 4.6 times higher than cropland. The inclusion of sumac income in total household income calculations considerably reduced income inequality among households by 0.36. The processing operations done on the sumac fruit were cleaning, drying, flouring, and packaging. It increased the processing benefit by 10.5USD per kg. The main marketing constraints were selling in raw form without grading and standardization, unawareness about prices, low marketing information, etc. Conclusion: expanding the sumac agroforestry systems by increasing the abundance and density of fruit-providing species is an important way of improving livelihood and security in rural areas.