Impact of Agroforestry on Physical Health and Screen Time: A Study in Garhwal Himalaya, India

Contribution of agroforestry towards ecosystem services is being recognized globally. The benefit people gains from an ecosystem are crucial to community health serving as a bridge between nature and society. Forests and agriculture, particularly agroforestry, are some of the vital natural resources for rural and subsistence communities, offering a range of ecosystem services such as food, fodder, fuelwood, timber, medicines and other non-timber forest products. Cultural services are non-material benefits that people derive from ecosystems, contributing to physical health, spiritual enrichment, recreation, ecotourism, cognitive development, and leisure. Cultural services support physical, cultural and intellectual development, including arts, music, and other recreational activities. This study was conducted on people owning and managing Grewia optiva (Bhimal) based agroforestry systems of Garhwal Himalaya in Uttarakhand state of India and mainly focuses on physical health of elderly agroforestry farm owners in the form of physically active hours and reduced screen time. Nowadays, where maintaining health as well as physical activities are considered crucial, this study highlights the role of agroforestry in lifestyle of elderly people. An increase in active hours and a considerable reduction in screen time have been observed in elderly people from study area as compared to elderly people who were not involved in agroforestry practices. This is an important aspect of agroforestry besides climate change adaptation and mitigation which is yet to be analysed, quantified and studied.