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).
“I think that the farmer’s situation and their farm management have to be the starting point of this transition.”In AFaktive, he is also focusing on farmers´ issues in pilot farms, in regional agroforestry, as well as in project replication efforts and policies.
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.
Rombouts Agroecology is a small self-employed company with Piet Rombouts as only employee. Over the last eight years, this AFaktive partner started several agroforestry projects in the Netherlands with the aim of introducing this promising farm system. Furthermore, he has organised farmers agroforestry networks in the 12 Dutch provinces (with now 750 farms involved).
Pioneer farm in Wahlwiller (Google Earth picture, elaboration by Wendy Bindels and project team)