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The AFaktive team wishes you happy new year! May 2026 bring renewed awareness as well as decisive action for climate adaptation and more trees and shrubs in the (agricultural) landscape.
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In case you missed it in the Christmas holiday phase, below is our latest newsletter.
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Dear agroforestry enthusiasts,
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the setup of the project agroforestry sites and of the related monitoring system has been at the centre of 2025 for the practice-oriented AFaktive team. All the field measurements are contributing not only to the knowledge on the effects of agroforestry on water, but also to the rainfall simulation tool. You can read more on agroforestry as a cooperative approach to improving landscape water retention in the article published by some AFaktive partners. Beyond the technical aspects, the project produced a policy study on the agroforestry-water nexus in the project countries. The exchanges were rich, from the German Agroforestry forum and the annual partner meeting to the many interactions with you. Interest from practitioners and municipalities was not missing. We plan many more events and exchanges, especially concerning know-how transfer. We hope to see you at the EURAF Conference in June, where we will host a workshop. And, of course, stay tuned for the results of the field measurements!
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If these topics caught your attention, find more details below. You are welcome to forward the newsletter to your contacts and interested parties. We look forward to exchanging with you.
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The AFaktive team wishes you a wonderful Christmas time and a 2026 full of joy and trees!
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“We saw that trees and agriculture is a good combination. It brings the synergy with soil conservation, with productivity […] and, at the same time, […] with water conservation”
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Implementation of new agroforestry systems
Wallonia: From erosion-prone fields to a resilient farm
At La Ferme des Marnières in Wallonia, severe soil erosion and water sensitivity made vegetable production increasingly difficult. The AFaktive Walloon partner AWAF stepped in and supported the farm in the implementation of a tailored agroforestry system combining orchards, vegetable production, hedges, and targeted water management measures. Designed to improve soil structure, water infiltration, and long-term resilience, the system was fully established between late 2024 and early 2025. Ongoing monitoring now provides concrete data on how agroforestry can address soil and water challenges at farm level.
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Testing agroforestry to strengthen conventional farming systems
Hofgut Neumühle in Rhineland-Palatinate plays a central role in regional agricultural training and applied research. Alongside established farming practices, the centre increasingly tests innovative approaches, including agroforestry systems. With the support of AFaktive coordinator IfaS, since 2024, fodder hedges and newly established alley cropping systems have been integrated into conventional arable fields to explore their potential for soil protection, water retention, biodiversity, and on-farm resource use. These systems now serve as practical learning and research sites, with ongoing studies examining their effects on water balance (project AGROfloW) and biodiversity (AFaktive).
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Stay tuned for the monitoring results at both (and more) agroforestry sites!!
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Agroforestry adoption for water management needs field data
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Agroforestry is increasingly recognised as a promising approach to address flooding and drought risks, yet field-based evidence on its hydrological effects remains limited – particularly in temperate regions. Within the AFaktive project, a long-term monitoring network is being established across agroforestry sites in Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium (s. project site map below).
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By combining telemetric measurements, soil moisture monitoring, and targeted field tests, the project aims to generate robust data to better understand how agroforestry influences runoff, infiltration, and plant water availability. These insights are essential to support informed decision-making and wider adoption of agroforestry for water management.
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Why agroforestry is hard to simulate
In the last newsletter, we already introduced the topic of rainfall simulations. AFaktive plans to expand the existing software of partner Hydrotec to simulate rainfall events in agroforestry systems. Together with project partner from the Water Research Group at the Institute for Technology Transfer (Saarland University of Applied Sciences), the data collected by the project site sensors and by the manual measurement will flow into the development of the add-ons and modules for the simulation software.
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Agroforestry systems are more complex than regular crop fields, which makes simulating rainfall and runoff challenging. Trees capture some of the rainfall in their canopies before it reaches the soil. Their roots change how fast water enters the ground, how much water the soil can hold, and how quickly infiltration slows as the soil becomes saturated. Tree rows also disturb and redirect surface runoff in ways that cannot be represented simply by increasing surface roughness, as current models do.
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Continuous monitoring and manual measurements of soil moisture, infiltration, rainfall and many other parameters will provide the detailed data needed to capture these complex interactions. Once enough data has been collected, this information will allow the simulation software to be calibrated and refined, enabling it to realistically represent how water moves through agroforestry systems.
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Data collection is already underway on multiple project fields, with sensors measuring soil moisture both inside and outside tree rows. While more data is needed before making solid conclusions, measurements from the past few months already highlight how trees influence soil water retention.
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Uherek pioneer site with location of the soil moisture sensors (black frame) © FITT
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Soil moisture sensors in the first tree row at the Uherek pioneer site © FITT
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Soil moisture inside and outside of the first tree row at the Uherek pioneer site during February 2025 © REK, FITT
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Agroforestry-water nexus: a missed opportunity in policies?
Agroforestry is increasingly referenced in strategies, policies, and funding schemes, yet its practical uptake remains limited. A new AFaktive study by the Institute for Rural Development Research e.V. (IfLS) highlights one key reason: agroforestry and water management are still addressed through largely separate and poorly aligned policy frameworks. Focusing on EU and regional contexts in Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands, the study maps existing regulations, actors, and climate challenges, and identifies where better policy integration could support more effective agroforestry implementation.
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Find the full article and the study here and stay tuned to find out more about the planned AFaktive regional approach to improve agroforestry uptake (case studies upcoming).
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Partner meeting in Holland – site monitoring in focus
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For their third annual meeting, the AFaktive partners met in Holland at the premises of partner Royal Eijkelkamp, a Dutch company producing sensors for the monitoring of the AFaktive agroforestry sites.
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The choice of the location couldn´t have been more suitable since the lion´s share of the discussions revolved around the monitoring of the project sites. The AFaktive consortium also exchanged with sensors manufacturer Agurotech and visited the lab of Antonie, the company conducting the innovative monitoring of soil life.
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To stay true to its practice-oriented vocation, the AFaktive partners did not just exchange in an office, but also on the field visiting two Dutch project farms, De Hofkamer and Het Diessens Broek, as well as the production halls of manufacturer Royal Eijkelkamp.
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Partners at Tuinderij Bodemliefde
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Partners at project fam De Hofkamer
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Partner meeting at Royal Eijkelkamp
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Blacksmiths at Royal Eijkelkamp
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10th German Agroforestry Systems Forum
The teams of coordinator Institute for Applied Material flow Management and of partner htw Saar´s Water Research Group contributed to the 10th German Agroforestry Systems Forum with workshops and discussions on practical experience and the current state of knowledge in modelling agroforestry systems in relation to water balance and wind dynamics. The event organised by the German Association for Agroforestry (Deutscher Fachverband für Agroforstwirtschaft, DeFAF e.V.) took place at the Justus Liebig University in Giessen on the 17th and 18th September and provided the AFaktive experts and other experts from the scientific community with a space to further discuss in person current methodological approaches, challenges and practical examples, including erosion, drought stress and microclimatic effects. All in all, the exchange between science and practice contributed to a critical reflection on existing modelling approaches and the further development of practice-relevant issues.
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Know-how transfer: the AFaktive events
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From the very beginning, the AFaktive consortium agreed on one thing, the project must serve the practice. All new insights and developed results must be shared, not only to improve the practice of agroforestry and increase its implementation, but also to contribute to reducing adoption barriers. After brainstorming the knowledge gaps but also the awareness lacks, the AFaktive partners are organising capacity building workshops and events to support practitioners and encourage all stakeholders, including water authorities and municipalities. In fact, the latter might not be aware of agroforestry as a nature-based solution or not know how to implement it. Stay tuned through our website and social media to be informed on the events.
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Do not hesitate to contact the project team if you are interested in implementation in your region or if you have questions or suggestions.
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Agroforestry sparks interest among local municipalities in Flanders
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Environmental and green officers from more than 30 municipalities in West Flanders recently visited the agroforestry demonstration plot of AFaktive partner Inagro. During the field visit, they explored how agroforestry can combine agricultural production with ecosystem services such as water management, soil care, carbon storage, and biodiversity. Practical research insights and real-life challenges, including water stagnation and biodiversity-friendly solutions, made the visit particularly relevant for local authorities looking for workable approaches to climate adaptation in agricultural landscapes.
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The colleagues at Inagro reported that the interest of the authorities’ representatives was palpable as water management challenges increase. The AFaktive team is eager to collaborate on these challenges using agroforestry.
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Agroforestry – a cooperative approach to improving water retention in the landscape?
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The topic of agroforestry is getting more and more attention from different sectors and stakeholders and one of the main reasons is that it opens the possibility of combining multiple functions on the same area: primary agricultural production, climate action, conserving biodiversity and improving water retention in the area. This alleviates the competition for land, which is one of the thorns in the side of climate action.
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The teams of IfaS, FITT and IfLS delved into the topic with an article on the October issue of DWA members magazine (German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste) advocating for a paradigm shift in the way we manage landscape water resources: from rapid drainage of the landscape to a significant increase in water retention within watercourse catchment areas. As agriculture accounts for roughly 50.3% of Germany’s land area, it is a key partner in shaping landscape water management. The central aim of the necessary cooperation is to integrate water retention measures into agricultural practices. With careful planning, planting trees on farmland can help to slow run-off and improve water infiltration.
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Read full article here (German).
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Agroforestry video series
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Have you already seen all videos of the agroforestry series? Subscribe to our LUCA YouTube channel so you don´t miss out. New videos coming soon!
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Spotlight on….
AWAF - Association for the promotion of agroforestry in Wallonia and Brussels
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In this newsletter, we focus on the Association for the promotion of agroforestry in Wallonia and Brussels: AWAF (website). 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 and has been widely applied to support the project agroforestry sites in Wallonia (s. article above).
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AWAF is a vital force for the agroforestry transition in Wallonia. Since 2012, it has been carrying out essential tasks that no one else is currently undertaking in Wallonia:
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· Representing agroforestry practices in discussions related to the development of new policies or regulations so that these tools can be properly promoted, taking into account the realities of those working in the field.
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· Training field actors: farmers, but not only. AWAF is particularly interested in the audience of certifying agents (Nature and Forestry Department), for whom understanding the practices and regulations specific to agroforestry is not always well established, which can lead to conflicts and insecurity for farmers. Every year, AWAF trains several hundred people, often at the request of agricultural unions, local or other professional organisations.
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· Development of sectors such as dried fruits, where AWAF has brought together stakeholders, created networks and developed new knowledge (e.g. relocation of walnut grafting to Wallonia), or in the case of chipped wood, where they are attempting to remove regulatory barriers that limit the economic development of the sector, despite demand from stakeholders in the field.
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· Research and development when needs are expressed by actors in the field. The case of chipped wood is another good example: in recent years, several farmers have contacted us because they want to use this technique to combat the problem of low organic matter content in their soils, but they lack technical information (volume to be spread, periods, technical itineraries, etc.). AWAF has therefore set up a project that aims to respond directly to their requests.
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· AWAF provides advice and recommendations to farmers and refers them to the relevant stakeholders in the sector, for example by acting as an intermediary between farmers and agroforestry experts.
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These various missions are carried out through several projects, most often thematic: improving water management in agriculture through agroforestry practices (AFaktive), use of ramial chipped wood, development of dried fruit sectors, etc.
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Through these missions, AWAF has a vision: to contribute to the creation of multifunctional agricultural systems that improve the social, economic and environmental conditions of all land users while maintaining and diversifying agricultural production.
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News from the network
Agroforestry for the heat transition
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Agroforestry serves multiple purposes, as it is demonstrated by the municipality company Wurzener Land-Werke GmbH, which in July qualified for the “Stadtwerke Award 2025” with its agroforestry system in Saxony. Over 30,000 trees, including poplars and valuable wood trees, were planted on 18 hectares of arable land. The concept combines agricultural use with climate protection and regional heat production. After around six years, the first poplars are harvested and processed into wood chips, which are used as biofuel in the Wurzener Land region. This creates ecological added value and a regional value creation cycle.
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Even though Wurzener Land-Werke GmbH did not win the award, it was among the finalist, showing the relevance of agroforestry as regional solution for the energy transition.
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Watch the video explaining the agroforestry concept here.
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Wood pastures – ancient agroforestry systems in Eastern Europe
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The integration of shrubs and trees in cultivated landscapes is neither modern not new. In certain European regions, such as Romania, ancient forms of agroforestry still survive. Wood pastures are traditional biocultural systems that have evolved over centuries of co-evolution between humans and nature, in which the structure, function and identity of ecosystems and landscapes are closely interwoven with human livelihoods and culturally embedded economic practices. The collaboration between the IfaS and Babes-Bolyai University (Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Environmental Engineering) within the Transylvanian Wood Pasture project has resulted in the publication of a key research article. This is the first biocultural assessment of wood pastures in Europe. With a clear concept and new methods, the study shows how biocultural systems can be recorded and evaluated.
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Upcoming events
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The AFaktive capacity building events will start soon, stay tuned for the dates!
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The AFaktive project is funded by the European Commission's LIFE Climate programme under the grant agreement LIFE22-CCA-DE-LIFE-AFaktive. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
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