Many countries have integrated agroforestry into their sustainable development policies, particularly in Southeast Asia. In Timor-Leste, the national strategy to promote agroforestry has adopted a modern, technique-oriented approach focused on crop rotation, intercropping, and agro-silvo-pasture. In so doing, it has largely overlooked the pre-existence, diversity, and performance of traditional agroforestry systems (AFS).

This study identified that the diversity and complexity of AFS require a better description of how they function and a better understanding of how they fit into the heterogeneous development strategies of rural households before actions are considered to improve their performance.