Agroforestry for soil health at landscape level

Expected Outcome

Activities should support the objectives and targets of the Mission Soil and of the common agricultural policy (CAP), the European Green Deal ambitions and targets and more specifically those of the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the EU Soil Strategy for 2030, the EU Climate action, the EU’s Action Plan on the Development of Organic Production and the proposal for a Soil Monitoring and Resilience Directive. Activities should thereby contribute to meeting the objectives on improving soil management, environmental performance and competitiveness of the Vision for Agriculture and Food.

Project results are expected to contribute to all the following expected outcomes:

• increased adoption of agroforestry at landscape level in the EU and Associated Countries;
• enhanced access and uptake of agroecological solutions and practical tools that boost soil health in agroforestry by farmers, foresters, advisors and food chain operators;
• business models for agroforestry and soil health that integrate all actors along the value chain, including agritech companies, the food industry, retailers and consumers- are tested and validated;
• the benefits of agroforestry for environmental (particularly soil), social, and economic sustainability, along with the obstacles to its adoption and the mechanisms to overcome them, are more comprehensively understood and effectively disseminated.

Scope

Agroecology practices and agroforestry (a land management practice that integrates trees and shrubs into agricultural landscapes[1]) are known to improve soil health, conserve water, and provide economic and environmental benefits while promoting highly diverse landscape features, which provide ecosystem services and support farmland biodiversity[2]. The restoration of degraded landscapes using agroforestry can increase the resilience of communities to shocks, including drought and food shortages, and help mitigate climate change. Agroecology and agroforestry also improve farm profitability for farmers, combining economic benefits with environmental sustainability, in line with the Vision for Agriculture and Food.

However, its adoption in the EU remains limited largely due to farmers' lack of expertise and financial concerns. Initial costs for establishing agroforestry systems can be high, and financial returns may take longer to realize compared to traditional agricultural practices. Existing business models and traditional farm financing is often not tailored to long-term, diversified systems.

A landscape approach can significantly aid in overcoming the barriers to agroforestry adoption in the EU and Associated Countries by promoting integrated and sustainable land management practices across larger areas.

Proposals should focus on landscape-scale implementation of agroforestry practices aiming at scaling up sustainable soil management practices in agroforestry systems across entire value chains and territorial contexts. Proposals should apply participatory, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches, involving actors along the value chain, thereby maximizing ecological and socio-economic impact.

While normally projects run for four years, the duration of the projects should accommodate longer timescales required by agroforestry and for soils processes to take place.

Proposals should:

• using an interdisciplinary, participatory and multi-actor approach, co-design, co-develop, and pilot locally adapted agroforestry farming systems with a landscape approach that demonstrate an enhancement in soil health in a variety of relevant pedo-climatic areas across the EU and Associated Countries;
• assess and monitor the impacts of agroforestry practices on soil health. For this, establish a baseline of the soil conditions in the areas where the project will be operating to allow for an accurate monitoring of changes in soil health over time and after the project ends under different agroforestry management practices. Activities should allow for a comparison of the impacts of conventional and organic farming;
• assess and demonstrate the technical, social, economic, cultural and environmental viability of the proposed agroforestry systems, as well as their potential scalability and transferability to diverse contexts;
• involve public and private actors to mobilise finance, including blended, and develop and test long-term, sustainable business models, that facilitate the transition to scalable agroforestry systems;
• produce recommendations on how policy and the macro-economic framework could support practically feasible implementation pathways and value chain networks for large scale agroforestry deployment;
• provide capacity building and training opportunities for all actors along the value chain - including farmers, advisors, businesses, consumers and policymakers - focused on practical skills and awareness of soil health improvement, efficient agroforestry management, supportive business models, and incentives to accelerate the transition.

Proposals must implement the multi-actor approach to ensure that knowledge and needs from various sectors are brought together. The actors involved should include farmers, forest users, researchers, landowners or land managers - both from the farm and forestry sectors, industry (e.g., SMEs), public administrations (both in charge of farming and of forestry matters), representatives of civil society (e.g., consumers, environmental NGOs).

To encourage and facilitate the involvement of different types of small actors, applicants may use financial support to third parties (FSTP), that can be provided through calls or, if duly justified, without a call for proposals. Applicants are advised to consult the standard conditions set out in Annex B of the General Annexes including those that apply to FSTP.

Proposals should fill R&I gaps, demonstrating value added and complementarity with past/ongoing EU-funded R&I projects, including Mission Soil living labs. Proposals must include dedicated tasks and appropriate resources to coordinate with relevant ongoing and upcoming projects funded by the Horizon Europe Partnership Agroecology. Proposals must include coordination and cooperation mechanisms and activities, with the aim of exploiting synergies and complementarities that result in greater impact on soil health and accelerated adoption of agroforestry in the EU and Associated Countries.

Capitalize, where appropriate, on the existence of relevant living labs set up under other EU-funded actions such as the Agroecology Partnership, to scale up practices beyond the farm to the landscape level. Proposals should demonstrate a route towards open access, longevity, sustainability and interoperability of knowledge and outputs through close collaboration with the European Union Soil Observatory (EUSO) and the project SoilWise. In particular, proposals should ensure that relevant data, maps and information can potentially be available publicly through the EUSO. Concrete efforts should be made to ensure that the data produced in the context of the funded project is FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable).

This topic should involve the effective contribution of social sciences and humanities disciplines.

This action supports the follow-up to the July 2023 Communication on EU Missions assessment.

[1] Agroforestry | Forest Information System of Europe

[2] Agroforestry for landscape restoration