The Agroforestry Advantages for Farmers are Environmental and Economical — Here's Why
For farmers and landowners alike hoping to improve their carbon footprint and turn a profit while doing so, there’s no better approach than agroforestry.
Globally, we’ve been practicing agroforestry for centuries. The intentional planting of particular trees, shrubs, and other vegetation continues to create social, economical, and environmental benefits today.
While we see agroforestry more commonly at work in Central and South America, where entire communities’ livelihoods lie on the backs of agriculture and farming, there are significant agroforestry advantages to be enjoyed here stateside.
So what are the advantages of agroforestry and why should landowners — including farmers, small businesses, and other land-owning entities — invest in it for the long-term health of their area?
Let’s dive into what these agroforestry advantages are and why they’re both environmentally friendly and economically sound.
Environmental agroforestry advantages
Above all else, agroforestry presents crucial benefits to the environment. Agriculture is one of the leaders of greenhouse gas emissions, so it’s important that strides are made industry-wide.
Agroforestry can improve soil health.
Understanding the unique soil of a plot of land then using crop modeling and other tactics to create climate-resilient soils is an important lesson of agroforestry. Experts have recognized, as of late, soil’s unique role in mitigating carbon emissions:
“Sequestering carbon in soil, however, is a relatively natural way of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere with fewer impacts on land and water, less need for energy, and lower costs. Better land management and agricultural practices could enhance the ability of soils to store carbon and help combat global warming.”
Those land management and agriculture practices? They mean agroforestry. That and other regenerative practices like using cover crops will improve the health of your soil which will, in turn, provide environmental advantages.
Agroforestry can improve the nutrition of the foods we grow.
Food security and nutrition is a hot-button issue, particularly in the US. Through regenerative practices like agroforestry, farmers can start to net more of the nutritional benefits of their crops.
Poor soil health is, understandably, noted for a significant decline in nutrient density of the foods grown on farms in the US. As we understand from above, soil health is critical to not only withstanding the effects of climate change, but for maintaining the proper amount of nutrition in crops.
Experts have recognized that this soil disrupts natural, normal biological processes and creates conditions not conducive to nutrient intake. Regenerative agriculture practices like agroforestry help to redirect those processes by reducing erosion and increasing water holding capacity, which creates more viable, nutritionally dense foods.
Agroforestry can help reduce pollution.
In places like Pennsylvania (though states across the US are following suit), farms are turning to regenerative farming practices to curb their individual pollution creation.
While this includes “implementing regenerative farming practices, from rotational grazing to planting forest buffers along streams, [which] can reduce animal waste and soil erosion,” agroforestry is worth the consideration for its ability to create a self-sustaining ecosystem that’s more resistant to the effects of pollution and climate change.
Economical agroforestry advantages
For every environmental agroforestry advantage, there’s an economical one to match. Agroforestry practices don’t only generate revenue for individual farms and landowners — they stimulate the local economies around them, too.
Again, agroforestry can improve the nutrition of the foods we grow (which can make them more profitable).
We know that agroforestry is crucial to improving the nutritional value and benefit of the foods and crops that farms are growing (as aforementioned). When farms are able to utilize agroforestry and other regenerative agriculture practices to improve the health of their soil, they’re more likely to create those nutrient dense foods Then, empowered with the ability to grow their own nutritional crops, small farms and landowners can reduce the reliance on major corporations and large-scale farms who are focused solely on quantity over quality. This will not only create revenue for farms, but it will stimulate the local economy and create an ecosystem for small businesses to thrive.
There are opportunities for corporate partnerships.
Recently, we’ve seen a trend of large corporations partnering with local farms to create additional food supply. Daily Harvest and Chipotle are two of the latest to create these business opportunities for small farms and landowners, which can create a significant pathway to profit.
Even organizations that collect food waste or extraneous crops to turn around and sell to consumers create additional opportunities for small farms to reduce food waste while reaping additional income.
Climate tech is becoming one of the fastest-growing industries in the world.
Climate tech got an enormous cash infusion in 2021 as agrotech and other industries focused on sustainability cash in on the eco-conscious consumer. Food and beverage presents one of the biggest areas of opportunity and, as noted above, corporations are looking to bolster local farming economies while creating more eco-conscious approaches to business.
The growth of climate tech means there are new solutions being created to help businesses of all sizes grow and understand the gaps in their revenue stream. Let’s take a look at how agroforestry advantages of both economical and environmental nature can be measured and scaled.
How to measure these agroforestry advantages and scale for success
As the climate tech industry continues to make strides, we’ve seen growing demand from business and their customers for technological advancements. These technologies not only help consumers understand their own carbon footprint, but helps them understand the financial opportunities or repercussions of their actions:
“Customers are now also more willing to adopt new technologies, even when there’s a price premium at first. “The second tremendously optimistic piece of what we’re looking back at at the end of 2021 is that the private sector is making real commitments to basically building the building blocks of commercialization for these technologies, understanding that at first instance, they’re more expensive than their fossil competitors,” says Goldman. Several other factors are also driving growth, including pressure from customers and investors and voters for companies to find low-carbon solutions.”
At Propagate, we’ve seen this firsthand with the farms and small landowning businesses we’ve worked with. With new technology comes a deeper understanding and education of each customer’s unique positioning and opportunity.
Our goal is to help farmers understand the economical and environmental agroforestry advantages through our Overyield technology by creating crop modeling and farm design features. With these features, you can also understand the economic results, including 30-year modeling of cash flows and revenue generation.
By creating space for regenerative agriculture practices and providing technology, education, support, and connection to key vendors, we at Propagate (and the climate tech community at large) are helping farmers and landowners everywhere thrive and reap the benefits of these agroforestry advantages, be them economical, environmental, or (ideally) both.
Learn more about how Overyield can help you meet your goals, no matter what they are.