The purpose of the Agroforestry Systems Inventory was to systematically collect data on important and promising agroforestry systems. The method consisted of data collection through collective efforts of ICRAF and a group of qualified Regional Coordinators from different geographical regions, evaluation and synthesis of the data and periodic publication of salient results. Major outputs from the project consist of a computerized database (Agroforestry Systems Register), an Agroforestry System Description Series (26 system descriptions as of May,1987) in Agroforestry Systems, various miscellaneous publications, slide collections and other visual presentations. The inventory has enabled ICRAF to bring to light the enormous magnitude of the complexity and diversity of existing agroforestry systems, develop a classification scheme as a basis of evaluation of systems and identify the most common research gaps.