Policy challenges for agroforestry implementation in Europe

Abstract

Agroforestry (AF) is a sustainable land use practice and system that increases the ecosystem services delivery from agricultural lands compared with treeless systems. Agroforestry can be considered a practice when linked to plot scale (silvoarable, silvopasture, homegarden, woody linear landscape strips, and forest farming), and a system when associated with the global farm scale. The enhancement of the ecosystem services is associated with the use and promotion of the biodiversity caused by the presence of trees that optimizes the use of the resources if adequate species are mixed. Agroforestry can be implemented at temporal and spatial scales. At the temporal scale, the use of woody perennials to increase soil fertility is a traditional technique that improves soil health and reduces the need of using herbicides (e.g., the legume Ulex sown for 10 years in between crop cultivation). Five agroforestry practices can be implemented at the plot level: silvopasture, silvoarable/alley cropping, homegardens/kitchengardens, woody linear landscape strips, and forest farming. A farm including these practices is considered an agroforestry system working at the landscape level when several farms are mixed. In spite of the acknowledgment that AF has at the European level for being included as part of Pillars I and II, the spread of AF is limited across Europe. Four challenges, linked with technical, economic, educational, and policy development, have been identified by the AFINET thematic network that, if addressed, may foster policy adoption across the EU. This article proposes 15 different policy recommendations to overcome them and the need of developing an AF strategy for the EU.

A review of agroforestry as a sustainable and resilient agriculture

“…Previous studies have demonstrated that certain agroforestry systems, like silvopasture, exhibit economic viability and generate profits. However, other practices such as biomass plantings or riparian buffers may require the establishment of markets that provide compensation for the ecosystem services, they offer in order to be financially feasible (Mosquera-Losada et al, 2023;Ntawuruhunga et al, 2023). Additionally, the process of social change and networking will also be influential as attitudes shift to embrace alternative approaches (Annosi et al, 2022).…”

Management of Agroforestry and Water Resources Towards Socio-economic Conditions of the Community, Case on Gubugklakah, Poncokusumo, Malang, East Java, Indonesia

“…Agroforestry can also be found in Europe [7]. The potential of agroforestry systems to provide economic, environmental, and social benefits in Europe has been demonstrated by national research programs and European Union research projects [7][8][9][10][11]. The function of agroforestry [12,13] can be expected because of the composition and arrangement of plant and tree species in one plot of land [14,15].…”

Expert-Based Assessment of the Potential of Agroforestry Systems in Plain Regions across Bihor County, Western Romania

“…Considering the fact that AF systems are a sustainable land management option that delivers market and non-market goods and services and the increasing support from the CAP programs, governments need to develop policies and actions that foster agroforestry within an EU policy framework [19]. In addition, a European AF strategy is needed to provide a proper framework that is recognized by the member states, although, the implementation of such strategy would require knowledge of these types of practices at the European level [19].…”