Agroforestry is a promising approach for a future-oriented and sustainable development of agriculture, yet it often represents only a niche area in practical application and, above all, in agricultural policy.
Through various projects, the IfLS works on the topic of agroforestry and, since early this year, is also a member of the German Association for Agroforestry (DeFAF, Twitter: @Agroforst_DeFAF) [link in german], whose 4th General Meeting took place in Witzenhausen on 25 June 2022. With the focus on the activities and developments within the association, common ground between the work of the IfLS and DeFAF emerged particularly in the area of agricultural policy. In the coming years, agroforestry will be an important part of the agricultural policy, especially through the Eco-Scheme of the first pillar or investment support within the framework of the second pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
On the evening before the meeting, there was the possibility for informal discussion about current developments, research projects and much more around agroforestry. The General Meeting was followed by an excursion to the organic farm Werragut [link in german]. Here, in close cooperation with Triebwerk (Twitter: @TRIEBWERKrelawi) [link in german], an agroforestry system is currently being established on 12 hectares with over 1,000 trees of 15 different species.
The IfLS used the exchange during the event, among other things, to plan surveys and workshops within the framework of the MIXED project (Twitter: @H2020Mixed). In addition, important new contacts were made around the topic in order to establish agroforestry as an agricultural practice.
Contact at IfLS: Holger Pabst (pabst[at]ifls.de)