Carbon farming with agroforestry systems

Agroforestry has particularly high potential for carbon sequestration as a land management practice. Especially Trees outside Forests, both on agricultural land and in urban areas, have significant potential for carbon farming. In Europe, almost 60% of agricultural areas have a 0% tree cover and about 18% of agricultural lands have tree cover up to maximum 10% (Lawson et al. 2025). Each agroforestry system has different potential for carbon farming.

Agroforestry systems have potential for carbon farming

In carbon farming, practices that increase carbon sequestration and storage in forests and farmlands, or that decrease greenhouse gas emissions from soils, are used. Agroforestry has particularly high potential for carbon sequestration as a land management practice. Especially Trees outside Forests, both on agricultural land and in urban areas, have significant potential for carbon farming. In Europe, almost 60% of agricultural areas have a 0% tree cover and about 18% of agricultural lands have tree cover up to maximum 10% (Lawson et al. 2025). Each agroforestry system has different potential for carbon farming. Different factors such as biogeographical region, soil type, species composition, age of the trees and cultivation density affect carbon sequestration potential of each agroforestry system. Agroforestry on agricultural land and agroforestry on forest land have also different starting conditions for immediate and future carbon storage and carbon sequestration due to previous land use and the trees pre-existing or non-existing on the land area used for agroforestry. In general, agroforestry can enhance soil carbon and above-ground biomass, which supports offsetting the relatively low sequestration rates in cropping-only-agricultural land without trees.

Studies on measured carbon sequestration potential of different agroforestry systems in temperate regions in Europe are scarce with average value being 1.44 t C/ha/yr. The sequestration rate in different systems varies from 0.15-0.90 t C/ha/year in Mediterranean silvopastoral dehesa and montado systems to 5 t C/ha/year in dense poplar systems in the United Kingdom (Lawson et al. 2025). Studies assessing potential for carbon farming in agroforestry systems in Northern Europe such as in Finland are also rare. Whereas carbon sequestration rates are generally lower in northern climates, there are also vast areas of agricultural land with low presence of trees which gives plenty of room for planting additional trees or natural regeneration in Northern Europe. Similar agroforestry systems as found in Finland can sequester 2.6 t C/ha/yr in riparian buffer zones, 3.4 t C/ha/yr in alley cropping systems and 6.1 t C/ha/yr for silvopastures in North America and Canada.

Increasing carbon sequestration and storage

In European Union, about 59% of arable lands and about 13% of pastures have low soil organic carbon saturation capacity. The potential of agroforestry systems to increase carbon sequestration and storage in soil takes place not only directly through increased accumulation of organic matter in soil through litterfall and roots systems but also indirectly through co-benefits such as possibly decreased disturbances to soil such as reduced wind and water erosion and decreased nutrient leaching. These co-benefits can increase resilience of agroforestry systems against natural disturbances such as wind, flooding and drought. Root systems in agroforestry systems reach different depths compared with conventional agricultural systems which can increase soil carbon storage in deeper soil layers. Agroforestry management practices such as continuous plant cover, minimum tillage and diversity in crops can support carbon sequestration and storage, both above and below ground. As agroforestry systems can increase above and below ground organic matter to soils, they can also support in improving degraded soils and increasing soil carbon content.

Harvested wood products from agroforestry systems can act as carbon storage when used for furniture, construction and other long-term uses. The wood produced in agroforestry systems may reduce pressure to forests as a local wood material source.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Carbon farming practices, such as cover cropping, reduced tillage, and organic amendments, enhance carbon sequestration in soil and vegetation and reduce greenhouse gas emissions while improving soil health and productivity. Besides increased carbon sequestration and storage, agroforestry systems can also reduce other greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. When nitrogen fixing plants are used, nitrous oxide emissions can be reduced due to reduced need for nitrogen fertilization. When silvopastoral systems are used, methane emissions from animals may be reduced as grazing ruminants produce less methane emissions as a study (Lardy et al. 2023) in conventional agriculture settings shows. A study (Heimsch et al. 2019) from willow and alder trees planted in a row on arable land where oats was cultivated shows negligible emissions of nitrous oxide and methane emissions from the soil in this system.

In general, agroforestry may contribute to European Union goals for reducing land related emissions. From the perspective of land use agroforestry may be attractive as planting maximum 10% tree cover on agricultural land does not result in change in land use classification and associated changes in land valuation. Although all member states have a national definition of agroforestry in the strategic plans in relation to Common Agricultural Policy, only some of them give support for agroforestry.

Diverse benefits for agriculture and forestry

Carbon farming with agroforestry is essentially a regenerative farming practice as it focuses on increasing soil health through carbon sequestration and storage in soils. Healthy soil is the most important resource in agricultural and forestry production and the basic requirement for efficient carbon sequestration in soil. Essentially, the agroforestry system itself can provide co-benefits through these supportive ecosystem services that can enhance the system’s further potential for agricultural and forestry production, and for further carbon sequestration and storage.

Besides soil health benefits, agroforestry practices such as alley cropping, windbreaks, riparian buffers and forest grazing can complement carbon farming by fostering biodiversity, enhancing nutrient cycling, increasing resilience against extreme weather events (such as drought, strong winds, heavy rain, flooding), improving microclimatic conditions, improving water retention and water cycle, contributing to climate adaptation of cultivation systems and creating diverse income streams for farmers.

Future of carbon farming

Although agroforestry is essentially also carbon farming, policy environment related to carbon farming is only in its early development processes. Based on the recent policy development on carbon farming in European Union, it can be expected that agroforestry will have increasing importance in climate adaptation and mitigation measures. In 2024, European Union has included agroforestry as one of the measures for carbon farming in the Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) Regulation (EU/2024/3012). CRCF Regulation is the first European Union wide voluntary framework for certifying carbon farming, carbon removals and carbon storage.

As CRCF Regulation establishes European Union wide quality criteria, monitoring and reporting processes, it can for instance facilitate solutions and investments in carbon farming after certification schemes are recognised. These processes are currently under development in European Union.

Photo: Michael den Herder

References

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