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LIFE-Project AFaktive Newsletter 1st issue
December 2024
Welcome to the AFaktive community,
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We are thrilled to announce the first issue of the AFaktive newsletter. AFaktive stands for Agroforestry as a Key to improve Water Management & Adaptation to Extreme Weather Events. The EU funded LIFE project focuses on the effects of woody vegetation for water management in the landscape and particularly – as the name itself states – for the growing risks of extreme situations, i.e. floods and droughts.
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Read more about the status and progress of the project below. You are welcome to forward the newsletter to your contacts and interested stakeholders. Let the AFaktive community grow! We look forward to receiving your feedback and engaging in an exchange with you.
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“Learn character from trees, values from roots and change from leaves”
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AFaktive news
Foreword
The AFaktive partners have been quite busy setting up the project, which started in October 2023. Since then, already two physical partner meetings have taken place, one in November at the Environmental Campus in the German Birkenfeld – at the premises of the project coordinator, the Institute for Applied Material Flow Management, IfaS (Trier University of Applied Sciences) – and one in June in Rumbeke, Western Flanders, at the site of one of the partners – Inagro (s. featured article on Inagro below).
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The setup of a project is a phase of fervent activity. Just like a tree, the AFaktive consortium is growing stable roots for the development of its trunk, body and branches. To stay with this picture, firstly, the roots of AFaktive were developed. Based on pioneer farms that already have experience with agroforestry, the performance of agroforestry systems and integrated measures for improved water management are quantified. However, LIFE is an implementation-oriented funding programme! Pilot farms, i.e. farms for which agroforestry is a new approach, should help to make the approach more visible. These are the new branches on the AFaktive tree.
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In order to effectively contribute to protection against drought or flooding, many trees are needed. The project is therefore also developing tools for planning new business models for agroforestry and water management as well as recommendations for improved framework conditions.
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As a result, regions (e.g. municipalities, districts/provinces) will be supported in using agroforestry as a tool for water management and implementing the approach on a large scale.
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In concrete terms, AFaktive will accompany six pilot sites. After the selection of the farms, scoping meetings have taken place to assess the characteristics and needs of the farms in order to optimally plan the agroforestry systems and the monitoring of their effect on water management. The preparation for the project upscale at regional level has also started. Read more in the articles below.
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Second partner meeting in June with external experts
The second annual AFaktive partner meeting took place in Rumbeke-Beitem in West Flanders from the 24th to the 27th June. The meeting was hosted by one of the partners, the agriculture research institute Inagro. This time, we weren’t alone, as some high-profile experts joined us: Amaury Frankl (Ghent University, BE), Martin Lukac (University of Reading, UK), Evert Prins (Louis Bolk Institute, NL), Patrick Worms (EURAF/IUAF) and Gerry Lawson (EURAF). They provided not only valuable advice in the critical project establishment phase, but also access to networks of projects and initiatives working on the same topics.
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During the partner meeting, it became clear once again that the AFaktive project has come at the right time. With extreme weather events increasing in all three participating countries, there is already considerable and rapidly growing interest in integrated solutions for more climate adaptation in land use.
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The AFaktive partner meeting was quite eventful with field visits, tours and workshops. Read more in our news article.
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AFaktive technical implementation
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Forestry Service Group (FSG) is the partner responsible for the coordination of the technical part, such as the development of Agroforestry & Water Management plans (AWM plans) for the pilot farms in the project.
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Under the coordination of FSG, six pilot sites have been selected – two in each project country (Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands). Read full article
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Scoping visit to Ohain, Wallonia : Ferme des Marnières. One of the pilot farms. Copyright picture: FSG
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Supervision and counselling of pilot sites
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The AFaktive pilot sites are each accompanied by a local project partner. The Association for the promotion of agroforestry in Wallonia and Brussels (AWAF) holds a unique position within the AFaktive consortium as the sole Association for Agroforestry and the only Walloon partner. Though small in number, its expertise is vast. Recently, AWAF has been hard at work designing its first pilot site, focusing on agroforestry systems for water management. This 9-hectare site, suffering from severe erosion and mudflow issues, but managed by an enthusiastic farmer, presents a great opportunity to explore the impact of agroforestry on water-related challenges. Read full article
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Photos of the pilot farm accompanied by AWAF (© AWAF)
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Improving agroforestry models with drone technology
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Nature and all the physical laws governing it are too complex to fully grasp, so scientists rely on so called models that simplify reality while staying as accurate as possible. These models focus on key elements, helping study and predict without needing to account for every detail.
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Models are being used in AFaktive to understand how trees interact with the surrounding landscape, influencing processes such as infiltration, overland flow and erosion, but also to predict changes in fields where agroforestry is planned or could be introduced. Read full article
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The farmer´s perspective
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The AFaktive partner Piet Rombouts is an environmental agriculturalist with a specialisation in agroecological farming. His role in the initiatives he accompanies is focused on how to involve farmers in the process (bottom-up).
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“I think that the farmer’s situation and their farm management have to be the starting point of this transition.”
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In AFaktive, he is also focusing on farmers´ issues in pilot farms, in regional agroforestry, as well as in project replication efforts and policies.
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In the Netherlands, the project has two smaller regions as working area: the hilly part of South Limburg with inundation and erosion problems and the drier region in the heart of North Brabant. Both regions have a pioneer farm: in Wahlwiller and in Diessen. Read full article
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Pioneer farm in Wahlwiller (Google Earth picture, elaboration by Wendy Bindels and project team)
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Shaping agroforestry and water management-friendly policies
In AFaktive, the Institute for Rural Development Research (IfLS) based in Frankfurt leads the work on policy analyses and the co-design of instruments to support agroforestry and water management approaches at local, regional and partly also national and EU level. Regional and/or communal issues and concerns regarding agroforestry as a water management tool are seen as key elements, while the work will also involve working with policy makers to improve the legal and administrative framework for agroforestry systems at the national level. Read full article
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Impact monitoring
With its special focus on water management, the AFaktive project has set out its project monitoring to measure in particular the effects of agroforestry on the water balance in the landscape. In the AFaktive consortium, Royal Eijkelkamp supplies measuring devices that will be installed at AFaktive agroforestry farms, in order to provide data as input for the research on the effectiveness of agroforestry. Such devices, e.g. soil moisture equipment, meteo stations, (ground) water monitoring equipment and the like, will give the project team the necessary insights into values such as soil humidity, water levels and quality, evaporation, surface run off, etc. In turn, this will allow to draw conclusions on the role of trees for water management at farm level. Read full article
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EURAF conference 2024
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The AFaktive team was present at the 7th European Agroforestry Federation (EURAF) conference on 28th-31st May 2024 at the Mendel University in Brno (Czech Republic). Jörg Böhmer from the coordinating IfaS institute presented the AFaktive project in one of the sessions. This was the first official presentation of AFaktive to the public and the EURAF conference with its international agroforestry network and community was the perfect backdrop for it. 396 delegates from 43 countries heard 137 presentations on studies exploring the potential benefits of agroforestry. Beyond indoor sessions, practical field trips took place. In short, the EURAF conference was an incubator for exchange and network with other projects and also for an AFaktive get-together. We look forward to the (further) collaboration within the agroforestry community.
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The AFaktive partner consortium – spotlight on…
Inagro – Putting theory into practice
As an agricultural practice-oriented research and advisory institute in West-Flanders, Inagro picks up the important task of helping farmers to tackle the climate-induced challenges they are facing. When thinking about water, soil and biodiversity challenges, we believe answers can be found in alternative cultivation systems such as agroforestry.
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For about 10 years now, Inagro has been a member of the Consortium Agroforestry Flanders. During this period, we have been working on the topic to gain the necessary insights and experience to improve our agroforestry advice to our farmers. Recently a long-term research and demonstration alley cropping system was installed at the premises of Inagro which is one of the AFaktive pioneer sites to be monitored.
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Through the AFaktive project, Inagro aims to improve the knowledge on the role of agroforestry and water management and show famers and local communities how they can benefit from these systems. To do this, Inagro is performing some of the monitoring at several Flemish agroforestry sites, including their own research field, and is coordinating the work at one of the Flemish pilot farms where agroforestry is going to be implemented in the coming year to improve the water management. Besides focusing on the hydrology, Inagro are also strongly involved in the monitoring of soil, biodiversity (insects, birds and bats) and crop yields.
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Inagro were very happy to host the international AFaktive partner meeting last summer at Inagro. It was a great opportunity to show the partners and people from the advisory board our pilot farm and research plot, while discussing our region-specific challenges.
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Pictures of own AF research plot © Inagro
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Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO)
Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO) is an independent scientific research institute of Flanders’ Government. ILVO’s task is to generate knowledge for more sustainability in the agriculture, fisheries and agri-food sectors. Starting from a strong anchor in Flanders, their work extends throughout Belgium, Europe and the rest of the world. The mission of ILVO is clear and remarkably contemporary: to build knowledge that will make it possible to produce enough healthy and varied food for the 10 billion people that the world will need to feed while staying within our planetary limits. To perform this mission, ILVO performs multidisciplinary, ground-breaking and independent research. In this way, ILVO builds the fundamental and applied knowledge needed for improving products and production methods, to ensure quality and safety of the end-products and to improve the policy instruments at the foundation of sector development and rural policy.
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Within ILVO, the agroforestry team led by Bert Reubens is involved in the AFaktive project. Together with Bert, colleagues Paul Pardon and Jolien Bracke are taking up AFaktive tasks. ILVO is involved in quite a broad range of AFaktive actions, but with a strong focus on monitoring the project impact as well as developing and realizing (Regional) Agroforestry and Water Management Plans for a set of pilot and expansion sites in hilly and erosion prone areas in Flanders.
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As for the monitoring aspect, ILVO develops the protocols for monitoring carbon storage and yield impacts, while also contributing to assessing the biodiversity effects, the hydrological impacts and the socio-economic processes. Pilot and expansion sites for ILVO can be found in the regions of Zwalm, Huldenberg and Voeren, though with a strong connection to other sites where the other Belgian partners Inagro and AWAF are the main responsible.
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ILVO is also the coordinator of the “Consortium Agroforestry Flanders”, an informal collaboration among Flemish partners engaging in agroforestry. This partnership not only engages in research, but also in dissemination activities, farmers guidance and policy improvement.
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News from the network
MODEMA kick-off
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The project goal is to advance agroforestry in Germany through the creation of best practice agroforestry areas that inspire imitation, the expansion of knowledge on agroforestry land use and even stronger networking between practice, science and administration. Around 30 farms in three model regions across Germany are involved in MODEMA. The farms either already manage agroforestry areas or are establishing new systems as part of the project. The range of agroforestry systems and tree species is wide. Both arable and grassland sites are being researched. With the AGROfloW project, the IfaS will work with the project partners to collect data on the economics of agroforestry systems in order to be able to make better and more realistic statements on the costs of establishing and managing agroforestry systems.
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AGROMIX White Paper “Transforming European Food Systems with Agroforestry”
On the 24th October, the Agroforestry project AGROMIX presented a white paper in Brussels, which outlines five key co-designed policy recommendations for the EU to maximise the implementation of agroforestry as part of its objective to secure a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable food system that meets the needs of present and future generations. Read the recommendations in the white paper.
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Agroforestry event “Farmers with trees: the road to 2035”
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On the 15th of October 2024, the event "Farming with Trees: the road to 2035" took place at ILVO. It was the highlight of ten years of strong collaboration among several Flemish partners engaging in agroforestry (the “Consortium Agroforestry Flanders”) and activities performed in a range of projects. A nice example of how partnerships and cross-project pooling of efforts can lead to impact. Read full article
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Roadmap: Towards a supportive environment for agroforestry in Flanders
Since the agroforestry subsidy was created in 2012 in Flanders, about 280 hectares of new agroforestry plots have been installed. The total acreage is higher because not all farmers apply for the grant, but implementation remains limited regardless. To create an enabling environment for agroforestry, the Consortium is publishing (soon to be finalized) a roadmap of priority actions by 2035. Read full article
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Numerous tools for farmers
Over the past 10 years, the Consortium Agroforestry Flanders has developed a package of practical tools for farmers. Currently, there are five digital decision support tools to support farmers and advisors in the planning phase and to make predictions in terms of costs, future revenues or carbon storage. Furthermore, there are six online teaching modules and numerous fact sheets. All that material can be found on the website.
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New is the soon-to-be-launched Agroforestry Map on which existing agroforestry plots gain visibility, in addition to knowledge institutions and consulting providers. The goal is to promote cooperation in the chain and help potential buyers of agroforestry products find potential suppliers. This map is the result of joint forces between the DigitAF and ReForest projects, EURAF and – for the Flemish case – the Consortium Agroforestry Flanders.
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New handbook
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The partners of the Consortium Agroforestry Flanders have worked together over the past 10 years in more than 20 projects focusing on research, knowledge sharing, learning networks, farm guidance, policy work and implementation in the field, among other things. This produced a lot of concrete figures on the impact of trees on crop production, soil quality, carbon storage, biodiversity and profitability. But they also developed a lot of factsheets, digital decision support tools, online teaching modules and an agroforestry map. All of that can be found in the handbook.
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