The third workshop of the Irish RAIN was held on 27th of June 2024, organized by the Teagasc team, led by John Casey and Tom Houlihan.
As part of the Horizon Europe-funded AF4EU Agroforestry Business Model Innovation Network Project, a workshop was held on June 27 with active participation from a representative group of stakeholders at the Teagasc office, in Tullamore. This meeting of the Regional Agroforestry Innovation Network (RAIN) sought to share successful experiences and to identify priority needs in the field of advice and training of all actors in the network.
Agroforestry can be described as a sustainable system, adaptable to most regions, which benefits forestry, pastoral and agricultural activity operating in the same space in complementary ways. In many cases, agroforestry management systems aim to produce higher value products, from the arboreal, pastoral and agricultural components.
The training of landowners and advisors plays a fundamental role for the future of European agroforestry systems; for this reason, throughout the workshop, the potential of different tools were evaluated. AF4EU is working on modules that will be part of the training for advisors, equipping them with the fundamental skills that every extension agent should possess.
- A well-trained advisor is always an essential link in the chain that can promote agroforestry and to develop a successful farm-based enterprise. The RAIN attendees identified a number of key soft skill training requirements for advisors, including understanding the role of the advisor and basic attitudes;
- Communication and relationship building
- Designing and implementing events
- Supporting business in strategic issues, “project management”
- Supporting important networks
Agroforestry is a very broad term and various value chains related to this system were discussed at the RAIN meeting. Given that the AF4EU program involves 10 countries, there are interesting market examples unique to each region and potential markets that are universal to all. The RAIN attendees examined the agroforestry systems, the different marketing channels and the varied value chains associated with:
- Agro tourism farms, Pasture farms, Wine and apple farms, Mycorrhizal fungi farms, Berry farms
- Milk goat farms
- Olives farms
- Livestock farms
- Nut farms
- Honey farms
- Aromatic plant farms
- Timber production farms
Each of these examples is a form of agroforestry where the final product is the one that takes on the greatest relevance. Ireland may not have all of these value chain productions, but being able to analyse each one of them allows us to obtain a deeper knowledge of the management of the resource we have and how we might go about achieving a better adaptation in times to come.
It is of utmost importance that all participants in the chain can access the information and published documents related to agroforestry, as well as the technological advances applicable to the system; Issues related to the important role of biodiversity and the adaptive and resilience capacities of agroforestry ecosystems need to be highlighted to everyone. As well as direct engagement, the preparation of engaging fact sheets and demonstration videos of technical practices are relevant to upskilling all those interested in developing agroforestry.
Decision support system
At the same time, work is being done on the development of an online tool that facilitates decision-making. The basic concept behind the decision support system is that with better sustainability indicators, better informed decisions can be made about the potential future direction of an individual agroforestry enterprise. The sustainability indicators that have considered include economic, environmental and social indicators:
Economic indicators
These include a range of metrics:
- Net present Value (NPV)- future cost and revenue streams from forestry are estimated and are discounted to present day values and presented as Net Present Values (NPVs). A positive NPV indicates that the project may be economically viable.
- Annuity of NPV– expresses the NPV as a series of equal cash flows over the agroforestry crop rotation. If all costs and revenues associated with the agroforestry use are compared with all costs and revenues associated with traditional agricultural land use (after adjusting to present values and the one-year cycle per annum basis) then the annuity of NPV and family farm income can be considered conceptually equivalent.
- Income diversity– the diversity of products that generate income for the productive system, thereby reducing the risks associated with over specialisation
Environmental indicators
Related to climate change
- Greenhouse gas emissions: CO2 equivalents produced by farming activities
- Carbon sequestration: carbon sequestered by the trees and other sources
- Carbon stock: this is the Carbon stored by each unit of land
Biodiversity
- Biodiversity promotion: it is the number of plant species available in the productive unit
- Biodiversity conservation: those species that are in danger and need to be conserved
Water
- Water consumption: water being a resource that must be preserved, its consumption must be valued to ensure the sustainability of the System.
- Water quality: all those activities that promote better water quality must be quantified, thus allowing it to be used as an environmental indicator.
Social indicators
- Job creation: the number of people employed gives an idea of the magnitude of the Project and therefore is a decisive factor when analysing the sustainability of the Project.
- Gender inequality: gender diversity when considering employment in an agroforestry system can be very significant
- Worker’s health and safety conditions: a sustainable system must not fail to consider the well-being of all those involved, which is why a record of performance in matters of personnel safety or, for example, exposure to risk agents such as chemicals deserves to be taken into account.
Having the opportunity to analyse all these indicators will be of great help when putting together the decision support system. A balance will need to struck between all these indicators to produce the best result for farmers and to provide guidance on their future path.
As an add-on to the meeting, a field visit to a producer near Ballyfin Co Laois took place. The idea of practicing agroforestry is highly influenced by the producer’s background; the transmission from one generation to another of the benefits of the system was very evident during the farm tour.
The organic dairy host has incorporated a variety of tree species and uses into the different plots on his farm, recognising in the trees a source of protection for his livestock, a source of food for his family with the incorporation of nut and berry species and the important role that trees have in enhancing the overall landscape.
The active management of hedges has allowed this host to have spaces within each grazing plot to protect his animals from inclement weather and allow it to serve as forage on a smaller scale. While the farmer needed to allocate resources to protect the trees from grazing pressure in the initial stages, as the seasons and the trees progress, the fruits of his work and efforts are evident. The farmer believes firmly that the benefits of agricultural cultivation associated with tree species provide sustainability within the complex world of sustainable agriculture.
Field visit
After lunch, there was a field visit to Clondarrig, Portlaoise to an 93 hectare organic dairy farm. The farmer, John McHugh, generously gave a guided tour of his farm, where he has embraced the principles of Permaculture, converting pastures to agroforestry and lining cow access roadways with fruit and nut trees.
As a means of promoting diversity, pigs and sheep have been introduced to the farm, breaking the dominance of perennial rye grass and create opportunities for other plants. The Clondarrig community farm project is hosted on the farm, as well as number of for- rent vegetable allotments.
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