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.
This included input from the master classes, field trips, workshops and analyses the Consortium organized or conducted in recent years. According to the roadmap, there is work to be done on five “paths”: in research and development, education, policy, economy and social environment. Concrete bottlenecks cited include access to land, fair prices, compensation for ecosystem services but also lack of experimentation space by pioneering farmers and the need for independent advice and guidance.
The number of agroforestry pioneers is growing in Flanders, the Netherlands and the rest of Europe. Yet for the system to be widely rolled out, policy, agricultural education, the industry itself, consultants and the broad agri-food chain must form an enabling environment that recognizes and propagates the practices of the pioneers. This applies, incidentally, to all innovative forms of agriculture, including agroecology or restorative agriculture.
This roadmap will be published soon – both in Dutch and English – at this webpage.