In the past two decades, a growing body of work on research stations and farmers' fields in Southern Africa has provided evidence that fertilizer trees can improve the productivity of land, increase crop yields and contribute towards climate change mitigation and adaptation. In a recent issue of Experimental Agriculture, Coe et al. (2019) published analysis of risks associated with adopting agroforestry in Malawi. The article contains several factual inaccuracies about agroforestry and misinterpretations of earlier work. Our aim in this correspondence is, therefore, to point out the key problems, seek clarification from Coe and co-workers, and stimulate wider scientific debate on the perceived risks of adopting agroforestry.