Transition to agroforestry: Current challenges and opportunities for the adoption of agroforestry as carbon sequestration strategy

The multiple benefits of agroforestry include the provision of several ecosystem services, e.g. biodiversity, food, timber, mitigation of climate change and the risk of erosion and land degradation. Carbon sequestration from agroforestry systems is an important regulating ecosystem service. Data from several studies in Europe (Northern Ireland, England, Spain, Portugal) suggest that agroforestry has a great potential to sequester carbon, in some cases more than grassland (Olave, 2016; Fornara et al., 2017). However, adoption of agroforestry is facing challenges due to several factors influencing farmers and land managers decision-making. Similar to what was found in a recent British study on livestock farmers’ attitudes to on-farm climate change mitigation strategies using a decision-support tool tailored for the sector (Burbi et al., 2016), the adoption of innovation to transition to climate friendly practices can encounter obstacles that are not always related to the evidence base to support the benefits of agroforestry. Barriers to innovation in the agroforestry sector include the uncertainty regarding carbon assessment methodologies. In particular, Land Use and Land Use Change from Forestry (LULUCF) accounting needs to better reflect the full potential for carbon sequestration from agroforestry systems using comprehensive calculations. Economic modelling is also a key aspect in promoting agroforestry, as one of the greatest barriers to innovation is the uncertainty in finance and labour required in an agroforestry system. This is particularly important for researchers to consider when engaging in the promotion of agroforestry. Clear and transparent communication on the multiple benefits of a system should also include information on the trade-offs and the possibility of integration of agroforestry within the current legislative framework. On the one hand, future work needs to address the uncertainty in LULUCF accounting and refine current methodologies used to measure the carbon balance of the system. Agroforestry-adapted legislation is also needed to better reflect the importance of these systems in terms of climate change mitigation and their delivery of multiple environmental and socio-economic ecosystem services. On the other hand, decision-support tools need to be adapted for agroforestry to highlight practices that are more suited for the landscape and the socio-economic context, helping farmers and land managers to easily identify the practices that provide greater carbon sequestration without compromising the productivity of their agri-businesses.References:1.Burbi, S., Baines, R.N., & Conway, J.S. (2016) Achieving successful farmer engagement on greenhouse gas emission mitigation. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 14: 466-483. DOI: 10.1080/14735903.2016.11520622.Fornara, D., Olave, R., Burgess, P., Delmer, A., Upson, M., & McAdam, J. (2017). Land use change and soil carbon pools: evidence from a long-term silvopastoral experiment. Agroforestry Systems, AGFORWARD. Special Issue.3.Olave, R. (2016). Agroforestry as a land use option to sequester carbon in a cool temperate climate. World Congress Silvo-pastoral Systems 2016. University of Évora, Portugal. 27-30 September 2016

Emerging from Below? Understanding the Livelihood Trajectories of Smallholder Livestock Farmers in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

In the context of current agrarian reform efforts in South Africa, this paper analyses the livelihood trajectories of ‘emergent’ farmers in Eastern Cape Province. We apply a rural livelihoods framework to 60 emergent cattle farmers to understand the different capitals they have drawn upon in transitioning to their current class positions and associated vulnerability. The analysis shows that, for the majority of farmers, no real ‘transition’ from subsistence farming has occurred. However, they draw limited resilience from increased livestock holdings, continued reliance on social grants and connections with communal villages. A transition into small‐scale commercial farming is apparent for a small number of farmers through the deployment of financial, human and social capitals. However, in following these trajectories, most of these farmers have been made more vulnerable to shocks and stresses than previously. We suggest that key to mitigating this vulnerability will be access to low‐risk financial capital, more targeted support, and strategies to support farmers that might not transition from subsistence production

Organic Livestock Production- A Bibliometric Review

Due to the increasing interest in organic farming, an overview of this research area is provided through a bibliometric analysis conducted between April and May 2019. A total of 320 documents were published up until 2018 on organic livestock farming, with an annual growth rate of 9.33% and a clear increase since 2005; 268 documents have been published in 111 journals. Germany is the country with the largest number of published papers (56 documents). Authors\u2019 top keywords (excluding keywords used for running the search) included: animal welfare (29 times), animal health (22 times), cattle (15 times), grazing (10 times), and sheep (10 times). This could indicate that more research has been done on cattle because of the importance of this species in Germany. Moreover, the prevalence of the terms \u2018animal welfare\u2019 and \u2018animal health\u2019 may indicate that the research on organic livestock production has been focused on these two areas. The bibliometric analysis indicates that: i) countries focused the organic livestock production research on their main production, and ii) more research in species other than cattle and sheep is needed

The impact of veterinary medicine and animal husbandry on the biophysical characteristics of soils in neotropical agroecosystems

Los agroecosistemas neotropicales son áreas importantes en el escenario mundial en términos de producción ganadera. Por lo tanto, una buena conservación de sus suelos es crucial para garantizar la inocuidad de los alimentos y reducir el impacto de los procesos de degradación de la tierra. La conservación de los suelos neotropicales utilizados para las actividades agropecuarias podría obtenerse utilizando la medicina veterinaria y adoptando nuevos sistemas de pastoreo en los últimos decenios. Se realizó una amplia revisión bibliográfica que ilustra las cuestiones actuales de los agroecosistemas neotropicales, la importancia de sus propiedades del suelo, destacando el papel que desempeñan los escarabajos peloteros dentro de la edafofauna, y los efectos de las prácticas antiparasitarias más comunes, así como algunas alternativas naturales. Por último, presentamos los sistemas de pastoreo adoptados comúnmente y cómo están afectando a las propiedades del suelo y al bienestar de los animales. La conversión de bosques en tierras agrícolas y de pastoreo está alterando la calidad bioquímica de los suelos. Además, el uso de la ivermectina está reduciendo peligrosamente la cantidad total de escarabajos peloteros que son un elemento clave en los procesos de reciclaje de nutrientes. La aplicación de nuevos sistemas de pastoreo (por ejemplo, Voisin, Savory) está fragmentando progresivamente el hábitat de muchas especies. No obstante, también hay algunos beneficios en este tipo de prácticas y se están probando algunas alternativas naturales a los antihelmínticos.The neotropical agroecosystems are important areas in the global scene in terms of livestock production. Therefore, a good conservation of their soils is crucial in order to both guarantee food safety and reduce the impact of land degradation processes. Conservation of neotropical soils used for farming activities could be obtained using veterinary medicine and adopting new grazing systems in the last decades. A wide bibliographical review was carried out which illustrates current issues in neotropical agroecosystems, the importance of their soil properties highlighting the role played by dung beetles within the edaphofauna, and the effects of the most common anti-parasitic practices as well as some natural alternatives. Finally, we present commonly adopted grazing systems and how they are affecting soil properties and animal welfare. The conversion of forest into agricultural and pasture land is altering the biochemical quality of soils. Furthermore, the use of ivermectin is dangerously reducing the total amount of dung beetles that are a key element in nutrient recycling processes. The implementation of new grazing systems (e.g., Voisin, Savory) is progressively fragmenting the habitat of many species. Nevertheless, there are also some benefits in this kind of practices and some natural alternatives to anthelmintics are being tested.• Comisión Europea, IRSES FP7. Proyecto de investigación EcoDrypeerReviewe

Reduced grazing and changes in the area of agroforestry in Europe

Agroforestry integrates woody vegetation with crop and/or livestock production to benefit from the ecological and economic interactions. The objective of this paper is to systematically determine the spatial distribution of agroforestry in the EU, and changes in the areas and types of agroforestry from 2009 to 2018. This was achieved using the Land Use/Cover Area Statistical (LUCAS) dataset. Agroforestry was categorised into silvopastoral, silvoarable, agrosilvopastoral, grazed permanent crops, intercropped permanent crops and kitchen gardens systems. In our categorisation of ‘agroforestry’, sites combing trees and shrubs with understorey grass or forage were required to show evidence of grazing. In 2018, the total area of agroforestry in the EU28 was 114,621 km2 equivalent to 6.4% of the utilised agricultural area (UAA), and a majority located in the Mediterranean bioregion. Silvopastoral was the most widespread system, representing 81% of the total agroforestry area (5% of UAA), with almost a third of that area present in Spain. An initial analysis of the LUCAS data suggested that the area of agroforestry increased from 2009 to 2012, before declining from 2012 to 2018. However our subsequent analysis suggests that the area of agroforestry in 2009 was underestimated due to a mis-categorisation of some grazing areas. After making corrections, we calculated that the area of agroforestry (using the above definitions) in the EU23 (a full-time sequence for the EU28 is unavailable) declined by 47% between 2009 and 2018. This decline is primarily due to a reduction in outdoor grazing, perhaps driven by reduced livestock numbers and/or permanent livestock housing. The only agroforestry system showing an increase was kitchen gardens (7%). The paper highlights the usefulness of the LUCAS dataset for studying the extent of agroforestry in Europe, but also potential limitations in terms of the consistency of the location of data points and the categorisation of grazing. The paper also argues that although the area of within-field agroforestry may be declining, the drive towards net zero greenhouse gas emissions may be re-establishing the link between increased tree cover and food production at a farm-level