Global and European policies to foster agricultural sustainability: agroforestry

Abstract

Agroforestry is a sustainable land management system recognized worldwide but not implemented in a extensive form in temperate and developed countries. Agroforestry has been promoted in the last decades at global level as it provides more efficient and sustainable farming systems. This review aims at summarizing the main research findings explaining why agroforestry is a sustainable land management that fulfils and is affected by different Global, Pan-European and European policies as well as how innovation is currently fostered in Europe, therefore linking research, policy and innovation. This review specially targets researchers and policy makers working in integrated land systems. There is a global and European recognition of the role that agroforestry can play to provide products but also to deliver highly important ecosystem services. However, the promotion of agroforestry practices at European level is still not well addressed by the Common Agricultural Policy. The clear identification of agroforestry practices, the link of management plans to establish agroforestry pursuing a final eligible tree density for the Pillar I payments should be addressed as initial steps to foster agroforestry in Europe. There is a lack of knowledge transfer that promotes agroforestry at field level, which should be approached by using stakeholder integration within the policy development as it is currently done by the EIP-Agri.