Toward a rationally robust paradigm for agroforestry systems

Because people need improved agroforestry and because there are perceived limitations in a largely scientific approach to agroforestry research and development in the past, an alternative paradigm to gaining knowledge for use in this area is suggested. It is an encompassing approach to gaining knowledge which we call the rationally robust paradigm, RRP. The paradigm has 11 components: 1. Concentrating on site-specific knowledge, often in a geographic information system; 2. being aware of the limited funds to achieve agroforestry objectives; 3. de-emphasizing induction and deduction, and their replacement by or addition of other epistemological bases; 4. accepting lower confidence levels for conclusions and subsequent action; 5. using estimates of median values; 6. using knowledge of the range limits of agroforestry phenomena and factors; 7. giving attention to the system's phenomenon of equifinality and its consequences; 8. de-emphasizing time as a factor in system analysis, and replacing it with other system phenomena; 9. using statistical regression techniques but simultaneously seeking to identify and use independent factors (e.g., solar radiation) that function significantly in many models; 10. appropriately using regression techniques emphasizing the use of hypothesized, often-non-linear relationships; and 11. operating in a conceptual clinical milieu. The paradigm is proposed for use throughout agroforestry.