Agroforestry Benefits and Challenges for Adoption in Europe and Beyond

Abstract

Soil degradation is a global concern, decreasing the soil’s ability to perform a multitude of functions. In Europe, one of the leading causes of soil degradation is unsustainable agricultural practices. Hence, there is a need to explore alternative production systems for enhanced agronomic productivity and environmental performance, such as agroforestry systems (AFS). Given this, the objective of the study is to enumerate the major benefits and challenges in the adoption of AFS. AFS can improve agronomic productivity, carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, soil biodiversity, water retention, and pollination. Furthermore, they can reduce soil erosion and incidence of fire and provide recreational and cultural benefits. There are several challenges to the adoption and uptake of AFS in Europe, including high costs for implementation, lack of financial incentives, limited AFS product marketing, lack of education, awareness, and field demonstrations. Policies for financial incentives such as subsidies and payments for ecosystem services provided by AFS must be introduced or amended. Awareness of AFS products must be increased for consumers through appropriate marketing strategies, and landowners need more opportunities for education on how to successfully manage diverse, economically viable AFS. Finally, field-based evidence is required for informed decision-making by farmers, advisory services, and policy-making bodies.

Growth of three types of sengon (Paraserianthes spp.) in varying planting spaces in agroforestry system

“…From an agroecological perspective, agroforestry forms multi-strata canopy layers that are beneficial for soil conservation. It can reduce the speed of rainwater, minimizing the potential risk of erosion caused by run-off water (Sepulveda and Carrillo et al 2015;Sollen-Norrlin et al 2020). With the soil structure maintained from run-off water, agroforestry can increase the soil nutrient availability due to the litterfall from the trees (Dollinger and Jose 2018).…”

A Scientometric Analysis of Worldwide Intercropping Research Based on Web of Science Database between 1992 and 2020

“…One of the popular topics is to increase "biodiversity" without compromising yield in the intercropping system [65]. The blue-colored cluster is themed with "agroforestry" or "sustainability" [66][67][68][69], while the yellow-colored cluster is featured with "nitrogen", "carbon sequestration", and "microbe biomass" etc. [70][71][72][73].…”

Dynamic Sustainability Assessment Tool: Case Study of Green Biorefineries in Danish Agriculture

“…Numerous researches link agriculture produce to different ecosystem's services and optimize these ecosystem's services [59][60][61][62] instead of considering carrying capacity as a boundary condition and determine maximum animal production as given in this study. Moreover, the recent research by van der Werf et al [63] summarizes current challenges for adequately representing ecosystem services in life cycle assessment methodology.…”