The International Council for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) was created in response to a visionary study in the mid-1970s led by forester John Bene of Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC). The study coined the term 'agroforestry' and called for global recognition of the key role trees play on farms. This led to the establishment of ICRAF in 1978 to promote agroforestry research in developing countries.
During the 1980s ICRAF operated as an information council focused on Africa. It joined the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) in 1991 to conduct strategic research on agroforestry at a global scale, changing its name from Council to Centre. After joining the CGIAR, the Centre explicitly linked its work to the goals of the CGIAR—reducing poverty, increasing food security and improving the environment—through two means: overcoming land depletion in smallholder farms of subhumid and semi-arid Africa, and searching for alternatives to slash-and-burn agriculture at the margins of the humid tropical forests. In implementing this strategy, the Centre expanded into Latin America and Southeast Asia while strengthening its activities in Africa.
ICRAF continued the process of institutional transformation by developing a science culture, building excellent research facilities and doubling its financial and human resources by 1996. The Centre formally adopted an integrated natural resource management framework for all of its work, and institutionalized its commitment to impact by creating a Development Group dedicated to moving research results onto farmers' fields.
In 2002 the Centre changed its name from the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry to the World Agroforestry Centre. The new name reflects the fact that the Centre is now recognized as the international leader in agroforestry research and development. Realistically, however, the Centre cannot possibly provide expertise on all conceivable dimensions of agroforestry—nor do we wish to do so. There are advantages to specialization, which is why the Centre engages in strategic alliances with a range of other institutions. Some of these partners are centres of scientific excellence in specific topics of relevance to agroforestry; others specialize in the effective delivery of research results to farmers fields.