Although agroforestry is recognised as a means to stabilise farm income,
little work has been done to differentiate farmers based on their
incomes, their capacity to diversify crops, and the economic outcomes of
agroforestry adoption. By distinguishing between high- and low-income
farmers, this paper examines how agricultural training affects
agroforestry promotion, and evaluates its relevance for the poor, the
extent of its adoption, and its economic consequences. We found that
although training generally increased participants’ knowledge of
agroforestry, it increased crop diversity only for low-income
participants. We also detected the presence of information spillovers
from participants to non-participants, which may increase crop diversity
among non-participants and consequently reduce the measurable impact of
training. When income heterogeneity is considered, we found that the
low-income participants benefited more from increasing their incomes and
expanding their social networks than the higher-income participants. We
also found that agroforestry adoption helped to reduce income
volatility.