Projects

Barriers to the Adoption of Agroforestry Systems and Practices in Ontario

There is increasing interest globally in developing strategies to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapt to climate change (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2007; United Nations Environment Programme 2015). One such strategy receiving growing attention is the adoption of agroforestry systems. Agroforestry is a broad grouping of land use systems which incorporate trees into agricultural systems, allowing for the production of trees and crops and/or livestock on the same unit of land (Gordon et al. 2018). Agroforestry systems are promoted for their provisioning of a vast array of ecosystem services, which are direct and indirect benefits to human well-being provided by ecosystems. Commonly reported ecosystem services associated with agroforestry systems include enhancements to soil fertility and conservation, water quality, and biodiversity (Gibbs et al. 2016; Jose 2009), as well as increased C sequestration potentials and GHG mitigation strategies (Nair et al. 2010). However, despite the touted benefits of agroforestry systems, their adoption by most Ontario (and Canadian) farmers remains elusive and minimal.

Within this project, funded by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Program (AGGP), FEU addressed four main objectives:

1. To identify barriers associated with wide-scale adoption of agroforestry practices on the agricultural landscape of Ontario;
2. To suggest remedies and recommendations to the appropriate institutions;
3. To identify characteristics of landowners associated with the adoption or non-adoption of agroforestry land-use systems in Ontario;
4. To evaluate the effectiveness of the extension materials produced at the end of AGGP 1.

Click here to read the report.