This paper seeks to determine the role of farmland afforestation in the development of rural areas in Poland. An analysis covered the distribution of afforestation conducted in the years 2003-2013 in terms of afforestations needs of rural communes. The assessment relied on the ranking of communes worked out by the Forest Research Institute for the purposes of the National Woodiness Enhancement Programme (NWEP). It was found that, in spite of the NWEP, farmland afforestation did not proceed in a spatially ordered way. The research showed that there is no straightforward relation between the level of afforestation needs of rural communes and spatial differences in farmland afforestation.