From the forest to the plate

It is one of the oldest agricultural methods and yet still ekes out a shadowy existence - many people can't get to grips with the concept of so-called agroforestry right away. "The best-known example of agroforestry in Germany is meadow orchards," says Prof. Dr. Tobias Plieninger. "Basically, agroforestry is about combining forestry with agriculture or livestock farming," Prof. Plieninger continues.

This type of farming has a long tradition, especially in the Mediterranean region: "Many people are familiar with the Spanish cork oak forests, for example," says Lukas Flinzberger. He is a staff member at Prof. Plieninger's department and, together with Prof. Plieninger and Yves Zinngrebe, has looked into the possibilities of marketing products from agroforestry in a recently published article.

"Within the framework of the European agricultural policy, agroforestry has not been sufficiently promoted so far. Until the support mechanisms are adapted towards sustainable production, the economic viability of existing agroforestry systems must be secured," says Yves Zinngrebe.

The authors see one starting point for this in so-called labeling. "Especially in expert circles, there are frequent calls to create a new label for agroforestry products," says Flinzberger. In their article, however, the authors outline the difficulties of such a label: "A new label probably suffers from the unfamiliarity of the term and the great diversity of different agroforestry systems," Flinzberger continues.

In contrast, after interviewing around 20 experts from the Mediterranean region, the authors see an approach based on geographical indications of origin as more promising. "The system of geographically protected indications of source established at EU level would obviously be a good starting point here," says Prof. Plieninger.

Contact

Prof. Dr. Tobias Plieninger

Phone +49 5542 98-1249
E-mail address plieninger@uni-kassel.de