DG AGRI highlighted this month a new data source from the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO) profiling The State of the World's Forests 2022. FAO’s annual analysis includes useful information for EU forest stakeholders including agroforestry advocates.
Agroforestry is an opportunity for rural Europe and CSPs can support the upscaling of agroforestry through various interventions. The FAO’s global perspective and expertise on this topic confirm the potential for agroforestry noting that agroforestry systems tend to be more resilient than conventional agriculture to environmental shocks and the effects of climate change. Depending on the system and local conditions, agroforestry can improve crop productivity, increase food security and nutrition, while also achieving 50–80 percent of the biodiversity of natural forests.
Agroforestry is promoted as a means for tackling local and global challenges but (despite the high productivity of agroforestry systems) many farmers may perceive them as less productive and thus financially risky. FAO encourages greater uptake of agroforestry through incentives and strategic investments to achieve improved farm productivity and land restoration objectives.
