DigitAF

DigitAF is a 4-year Horizon Europe project aiming to increase agroforestry (AF) from pioneers and early adopters to 50% of all farmers in the EU by 2035, making it a mainstream practice.

As part of the Green Deal, the European Commission has set the goal of making the agriculture, forestry and land use sectors climate neutral by 2035. Agroforestry is an important component of this process because of its impact on climate change adaptation and mitigation, biodiversity conservation, soil protection and agricultural sustainability. However, there are currently several barriers, such as the willingness to adopt agroforestry, economic feasibility and institutional resistance.

DigitAF therefore aims to create the right conditions for the implementation of quality AF to unlock its full potential. In doing so, the project intends to address the knowledge gaps that prevent widespread adoption of AF and transfer newly generated knowledge to relevant actors, including policymakers, practitioners and beneficiaries of agroforestry products and services. Meeting the needs of these three groups is the starting point and determines the further structure of the project.

A user-centred and multi-actor approach will be developed by setting up six Living Labs (NL, IT, CZ, FI, DE, UK) that will contribute knowledge to the DigitAF database and work on their own region-specific questions. This knowledge is then formalised into models that form the basis for practical tools. Testing of new technologies will take place in “lifelong learning” or on demonstration farms.

The above objectives will be achieved by a consortium of 32 partners from 20 countries, coordinated by INRAE (Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement). The ELO is mainly involved in Work Package One, which deals with strengthening agroforestry and carbon farming policies while developing tools for policy makers.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. The European Union cannot be held responsible for them.
Grant agreement: 101059794