Investment in agroforestry — an ancient land management method that integrates the growth of trees with crops or livestock — is emerging with renewed fervor across the U.S. With climate change driving risk of declines in U.S. food production, in the form of intensifying droughts, shifting rain patterns, more frequent wildfires and spreading pests and diseases, policymakers and private investors alike are turning to natural climate solutions.
A new funding influx signals increasing widespread expansion of the climate-friendly agricultural practice, experts tell Axios. Venture investment in the space has recently increased, with multiple dedicated new funds launched since 2020. The Agriculture Resilience Act advocates for new regional centers and expanded funding for agroforestry practices.
In November, the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition’s Climate and Agriculture Task Force released farm bill recommendations that identified agroforestry as a way to support soil health and carbon sequestration. Expanding adoption of agroforestry is a climate point of interest among lawmakers ahead of the coming farm bill, according to Cristel Zoebisch Bernaldo de Quiroz, deputy director of agriculture and climate at the NGO Carbon180.
Agroforestry can buffer extreme weather impacts on livestock and crops, boost soil health, increase crop yields and reduce air and water pollution, as well as assist in growing diverse crops to reduce economic risk. Although support for the practice, in the form of funding and attention, has been building for a while, “there’s just an enormous increase” in the past few years, according to Anne Marsh, the director of the USDA’s National Agroforestry Center.
Despite organic farmers receiving significantly more funds than what’s been earmarked for agroforestry initiatives, Carbon180’s Zoebisch deems the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program (PCSC) a “windfall of new funding.” The USDA announced a $60 million investment in the fall for a project advancing agroforestry in 37 states through the PCSC.
Karam Sheban, director of sustainable forestry at Rural Action, warns that the “sudden influx of funding” into agroforestry could translate into less money going to farmers and forest landowners, while companies “greenwash” it as a pathway to land consolidation. “You’re factoring in the individual landowner or farmers’ goals … it’s not a one-size-fits-all situation,” Sheban tells Axios.
Meanwhile, Stephanie Gutierrez, forests and community program director of Ecotrust, notes that agroforestry is just a new way to describe something that Indigenous people have been doing for thousands of years. An enrolled member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, Gutierrez is leading an upcoming project assessing the needs of tribal agroforestry producers across the country — including whether the uptick in funding is reaching them.
In conclusion, agroforestry is becoming a climate-friendly solution to agricultural challenges as policymakers and investors turn to natural climate solutions to combat the impact of climate change on U.S. food production. While the sudden influx of funding could translate into less money going to farmers and forest landowners, agroforestry remains a promising practice that integrates trees with crops or livestock to buffer extreme weather impacts, boost soil health, increase crop yields and reduce air and water pollution.
