The German government has set ambitious targets for the establishment of agroforestry systems. However, these systems continue to occupy a niche market. There are several reasons for their lack of attraction.
Agroforestry is no longer an unfamiliar term for many people today. A few years ago, this was not the case. Although the combined cultivation of trees and agricultural crops on the same land is not a new invention, this form of land management has fallen into oblivion over the last 100 years, mainly due to the strict separation of forestry and agricultural land. Returning to the integration of trees and shrubs on agricultural land is worthwhile, both for agriculture and for nature conservation, and not least for society as a whole. However, the current situation shows that the implementation of agroforestry systems is often not so easy in practice. There are many reasons for this.
Agroforestry for climate protection
The example of climate protection shows that more agroforestry areas are urgently needed. According to the Climate Protection Act, 25 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents are to be sequestered annually by 2030 in the land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector in order to compensate for emissions that are unavoidable or costly to reduce. For agroforestry systems, an average annual C sequestration capacity of around 10 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per hectare of woodland can be estimated based on above-ground and below-ground wood biomass. If 50% of farms in Germany planted agroforestry trees on an average of 5% of their land (assuming an average farm size of 63 hectares), this would result in a total agroforestry area of over 400,000 hectares. This would correspond to 2.5% of Germany's agricultural land. The sustainable potential area for agroforestry is actually significantly higher than this. Multiplied by the aforementioned carbon sequestration value, around 4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent could be sequestered annually with 2.5% of agricultural land.
Diverse environmental benefits
Agroforestry therefore has very high climate protection potential, which, according to a study by the Öko-Institut (2024), is surpassed only by the rewetting of moorland areas. However, the latter is likely to prove even more difficult on a large scale than the establishment of agroforestry systems.
In addition to their climate protection value, agroforestry systems also have numerous other advantages. For example, the multifunctional effect of agroforestry systems could, among other things, better adapt agricultural land to climate change, significantly reduce soil erosion and promote biodiversity in agricultural areas. There is no need to fear a reduction in food production as a result.
Agroforestry is still lacking popularity
There are many reasons why, despite these advantages, very few areas have been converted to agroforestry systems. For most farmers, agroforestry systems are currently only feasible on land they own. On leased land, there is a residual risk that the lease will end before the trees can be used, meaning that the investment cannot be recouped. It also requires money to be invested in the first few years for establishment and maintenance, without any return on investment. However, a major hurdle is the continuing legal obstacles, combined with far too low remuneration for social services.
The low level of support for such a complex, multifunctional cultivation system, combined with comparatively high barriers, is a major reason for the slow implementation of agroforestry areas. Although new areas are constantly being added in Germany, their share of the total agricultural area is still negligible. At the end of 2023, the agroforestry map of the German Professional Association for Agroforestry (DeFAF) e.V. showed an actively managed wooded area of just under 300 hectares (excluding scattered fruit trees). As registration on the map is voluntary, it can be assumed that the actual woodland area is around 50% higher. Nevertheless, these figures are far from the targets set by the German government, which in 2023 assumed that the area of woodland used for agroforestry would increase by 200,000 hectares by 2026. In 2024, this target was reduced to 11,500 hectares.
Bureaucratic hurdles are too high
Bureaucratic hurdles are gradually being removed and the subsidy rate increased. Since 2024, farms that cultivate agroforestry areas have been receiving €200 per hectare of wooded area per year instead of €60. From 2025, the utilisation concept and other hurdles, such as the minimum distance of 20 m from the edge of the land, are also to be abolished. This is a positive development, but it is far from sufficient to significantly advance the socially necessary implementation of agroforestry in Germany. The aim must be to ensure that the bureaucratic hurdles for establishing agroforestry areas are no higher than those for sowing annual monocultures.
It is to be hoped that the next CAP, starting in 2027, will place greater emphasis on agroforestry and remove existing legal barriers. Particularly with regard to nature conservation law, planning security must be created and the environmental benefits of agroforestry areas must be rewarded appropriately and in a targeted manner. The introduction of CO2 certificate trading in the agricultural sector would also significantly increase the economic attractiveness of agroforestry systems, especially in the initial phase. Regardless of this, agroforestry is also very well suited to promoting regional value creation. Examples of older agroforestry areas already show that they not only improve yield stability but also bring economic benefits – whether through the use of wood for energy or the direct marketing of products from agroforestry systems such as eggs. For many products, however, minimum quantities are necessary to establish worthwhile marketing channels.
The outlook for agroforestry-systems
More and more conventional and organic farms are looking into agroforestry. What's still missing is a real push. This could come in the form of attractive investment subsidies, for example. SilvoCultura GmbH in Switzerland, which also provides limited financial support for the establishment of agroforestry areas in Germany in cooperation with the MyClimate Foundation, shows what unbureaucratic support can look like. In addition to financial support, however, learning centres must also be created where practitioners can exchange experiences. It is therefore welcome news that the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture has recently begun promoting the establishment of a model and demonstration network for agroforestry, involving 30 agricultural businesses, among others.