Annual meeting of the NRW agroforestry network in Kleve – potential for regional agroforestry products

The team Agroforestry Living Lab hosted the two-day annual meeting of the NRW Agroforestry Network.

The NRW Agroforestry Network was founded in August 2023 on the initiative of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft bäuerliche Landwirtschaft (AbL) NRW e. V. and the Deutscher Fachverband für Agroforstwirtschaft (DeFAF) e.V. (German Agroforestry Association). It aims to bring together representatives from various areas associated with agroforestry, such as agriculture, nature conservation, science, agricultural consulting, associations and administration, to discuss the most important challenges, opportunities and measures of agroforestry and to strengthen agroforestry, always with a focus on the state of NRW. Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences (HSRW) was represented at the event by Prof. Dr. Florian Wichern and research assistant Anna-Lea Ortmann from the Faculty of Life Sciences.

In his welcoming address, Andre Seitz, Department III-3 Natura 2000, Impact Assessments, Energy Transition, Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Transport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, emphasized the increasing interest in agroforestry systems. The participants also confirmed that the inclusion of woody plant systems in agricultural production systems is gaining momentum. “The agroforestry map continues to grow,” said Dr. Leonie Göbel from DeFAF e. V. She coordinates the network together with Frauke Ganswind from AbL NRW. The issue of marketing options for agroforestry products is becoming increasingly important, both coordinators emphasized in their introduction.

In keeping with the theme of the event, which took place under the title “Value creation in agroforestry systems in NRW”, marketing options and best practice examples for the valorization of agroforestry products were presented and open questions and existing needs were discussed.

Martin Pesch from the Institute for Applied Material Flow Management explained how cardboard systems can be valorized regionally and Julia Günzel from DeFAF reported on experiences with regional value creation in Lusatia. Finally, Sven Leygraf from Forschungszentrum Jülich presented the opportunities for the fiber industry in NRW. The participants agreed that the further along the value chain the companies are involved, the more profitable it will be for them. The meeting ended with a tour of the agroforestry system at Hof Berkhöfel in Bedburg-Hau.

Agroforestry products from the Lower Rhine

The catering included samples from cooperation partners of the Agroforestry Living Lab. For example, chicken soup from Gänsepeter in Rommerskirchen was served at lunchtime. In the afternoon, participants were offered goat’s ice cream made from goat’s milk from Hogefelder Hof in Kalkar-Hanselaer.

In her presentation, Dr. Ana Kreter, Project Coordinator Agroforestry Real Laboratory in the TransRegINT project, spoke about the challenge of marketing agroforestry products from the region locally. Investigating potential markets for products from Lower Rhine agroforestry is part of the project’s work. This is because the HSRW’s agroforestry real laboratory not only supports and researches the implementation of new agroforestry systems with its cooperation partners, but also develops long-term marketing opportunities together with them. She emphasized that the agroforestry products are an addition to the cooperation partners’ normal core business.

“How do our partners’ agroforestry products work regionally? How can they use existing market channels? This consideration will be very individual for each of our cooperation partners, as we work with very different, special farms and agroforestry systems,” she explained.

According to her, the Lower Rhine could become a model region for the NRW agroforestry network. This was also emphasized several times during the meeting: every federal state has specific agroforestry challenges and within the federal state of NRW, regional structures are particularly needed to answer regional questions.

Questions that were raised and are to be answered by the agroforestry real laboratory in the Lower Rhine region, among others, were society’s support for the added value of agroforestry products and the development of an agroforestry label.

Personal connection makes for strength

In order to get something that works, it is important to talk to each other and exchange ideas. The right players need to be brought together, for example for the joint processing of agroforestry products or for the coordination of trees and quantities. The team Agroforestry Living Lab in the Lower Rhine region has already made a start here with agroforestry regulars’ tables for practitioners every two months.

The next dates are October 11 and December 6. Please register by e-mail to agroforst@hoschule-rhein-waal.de.