German Association for Agroforestry

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German Association for Agroforestry
(DeFAF)
logo
purpose Promotion of agroforestry in Germany
Chair: Christian Bohm
Establishment date: 06/25/2019
Number of members: 200
Seat : cottbus
Website: www.defaf.de

The agroforestry as a sustainable and innovative form of land use in Germany to advance and thus a contribution to a sustainable and viable agriculture to afford the main concern is the German Professional Association for agroforestry eV - DeFAF.

DeFAF is a nationwide, non-profit association for the promotion of agroforestry and sustainable agriculture. The association has been the German representative of the European Agroforestry Federation (EURAF) since 2020.

aims

The German Association for Agroforestry eV (DeFAF) sees its task in improving the administrative and political framework conditions for the agroforestry in Germany. Associations from agriculture , business , nature conservation and society are involved in this process . As a non-profit association, the DeFAF would like to network stakeholders interested in agroforestry from all areas of life with one another and with farmers, scientists and representatives of the administration and other associations and provide information on aspects of agroforestry in Germany. The work of the DeFAF is not tied to any particular agricultural management method. It supports agroforestry in both conventional and organic farms and is open to anyone interested in agroforestry.

The main focus of the association is on education and awareness-raising work. The association offers interested parties a central point of contact for their questions and serves as a contact, information and educational point. The creation of an agro-forest interest group as a point of contact for farmers, politics and society is another central goal of the DeFAF.

Foundation and association structure

organization chart

The DeFAF was founded on June 25, 2019 and is based in Cottbus . The association has a five-person board and is divided into nine departments. The heads of these departments form the DeFAF Advisory Board, which advises the Executive Board on decision-making. The transactions are checked by two cash auditors.

The association work takes place within a nationwide network of volunteers who have also come together to form regional groups in some federal states. Each member can actively participate in the nine departments or just be informed about their work.

The DeFAF is largely financed by membership fees and donations. In addition, project-related funds can contribute to the financing.

The DeFAF is only ideally supported by associations active in the field of land use, but also from parts of politics, and works independently with various interest groups and representatives on a technical and political level.

Strategies

The work of DeFAF eV is divided into six strategic goals:

  1. The aim of the DeFAF is to obtain a legally binding definition of agroforestry in order to create an eligible term. The diversity of different agroforestry systems should be emphasized.
  2. The DeFAF aims to ensure that agroforestry is taken into account in German agricultural subsidy law and that it is subsidized in the course of the new subsidy period of the EU's common agricultural policy . Funding through state funding programs, but also funding at the federal level, is sought.
  3. In order to obtain an overview of the agroforestry areas that are already available in Germany and the area used, a database is to be set up as the basis for an interactive map on the DeFAF website. This should be used as a basis for argumentation in order to integrate agroforestry into agricultural support. The aim is to develop as complete a documentation as possible of existing, actively used agroforestry areas and to identify best practice examples.
  4. The DeFAF wants to motivate farmers to establish agroforestry systems and to support active agroforestry farmers. Farmers are actively involved in the work of the association. The creation of demonstration areas will be an important strategy to show best practice examples.
  5. The DeFAF would like to develop long-term tools to involve the population and to achieve a social participation for the establishment of agroforestry systems. At the same time, the high-profile discussion about agroforestry is to be stimulated and actively promoted.
  6. Agroforestry is to be integrated into the curricula of agricultural training centers. For this purpose, constructive ways of implementation should be shown. The establishment of specialist training for farmers and agricultural advisors is another means of spreading agro-forestry in Germany.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christian Böhm, Rico Hübner: Trees as an enrichment for agricultural areas. An innovation concept for the increased implementation of agroforestry in Germany . 2020, ISBN 978-3-00-064735-2 , pp. 145 .
  2. ↑ Roadmap Agroforestry (PDF) Retrieved on July 13, 2020.
  3. ↑ Bender et al (2009): Modern agroforestry systems with valuable wood. A practical Guide. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  4. ↑ Mission statement and goals. In: Agroforestry. Retrieved on July 27, 2020 (German).