Agroforestry as a method for sustainable agriculture – FAO and FOREST EUROPE workshop organised in Budapest to introduce a common platform for stakeholders

Joint FOREST EUROPE and FAO workshop entitled “Understanding the Contribution of Agroforestry to Landscape Resilience in Europe” was organised in Budapest, Hungary on 9 – 10 October 2018 with 80 participants. The event was hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture of Hungary. The aim was to face the modern challenges of agriculture focusing on one alternative solution: agroforestry.

Challenges in agriculture

Demand for food and other agricultural products is expected to increase by 50 percent between 2012 and 2050. Demand will undergo structural changes, due to factors such as population growth, urbanization, and increase in per capita income, while the natural resource base, upon which agriculture depends, will become increasingly stressed. Moreover, the negative side effects of intensive use of chemical substances in crop production have become increasingly visible and pose serious sustainability concerns.

So producing more with less and to stop and reverse environmental degradation is a key challenge for the future.

Investments in agriculture, fishery and forestry, and new research and development activities are needed to find solutions for the aforementioned issues.

Sustainable production systems to be promoted

Sustainable production systems and practices should be fostered and promoted including integrated crop-livestock, aquaculture-crop systems, conservation agriculture, agroforestry, nutrition-sensitive agriculture, sustainable forest management and sustainable fisheries management.

These forms of climate-smart agriculture will help ecosystems and local communities to adapt to, mitigate and build resilience to climate change, and could address country-specific needs.

Workshop for agriforestry

Main purpose of the FAO and FOREST EUROPE workshop was to share state-of-the-art knowledge and build mutual understanding and cooperation on agroforestry between agricultural and forest sector with the aim to increase ecological resilience at a landscape level. 

It is a significant approach for climate change adaptation, contributing to rehabilitation of degraded land while providing livelihood and food security for people. 

The participants were the representatives of the forest sector, agricultural and other related sectors where agroforestry stands for one possible way for sustainable land-use management.

The workshop focused on identifying recommendations on what further steps are needed in the pan-European region, namely at policy level, to promote agroforestry leading to adaptation to climate change, combating land degradation and desertification, biodiversity protection, forest fragmentation, improving water balance and soil fertility.

A common platform was introduced both for agriculture and forest sector with the aim to build bridges among various stakeholders searching for application of agroforestry towards increasing resilience and promoting climate change adaptation. 

Further details: https://foresteurope.org/event/13961/