Report on the assessment of the farm-level financial and socio-economic performance of selected MF/AF systems

Actors within the agri-food systems face risks due to changes in the climate, market, regulation, and socio- ecological conditions. The portfolio of functions maintained within Mixed Farming and Agroforestry (MF/AF) systems should help minimise risks. The objective of T5.1 is to understand the current diffusion of MF/AF as well as their socio-economic performance by using secondary data (i.e., FADN), giving the first characterisation to what extent MF/AF can contribute to the sustainability of agri-food systems at farm-level across Europe.

The theoretical model framing the MF/AF into the socio-technological system will be able to describe the simplification VS complexity decision making.

Our data show that de-mixing (a reduction of complexity, diversity, and mixed systems) is ongoing in many parts of Europe. The picture is, however, itself more diversified than assumed, with some areas getting still de-mixed, which were previously highly mixed (Eastern Europe), while others are, according to our data, not de-mixing and, on the contrary, gaining complexity and diversity, e.g., parts of Greece, Northern Portugal, Alpine/mountainous regions, certain European islands.

Our empirical analysis shows difficulties in classifying the MF/AF using the FADN data due to: a) adaptation of existing economic criteria to the system complexity of MF and b) the lack of data on the integration of forestry and agricultural practices; c) the lack of data to better understand forward supply chain integration. Due to their contribution to sustainability and CO2 emission mitigation, expanding attention to these systems would require advances in the FADN data collection procedure. The report proposes a classification based on an integrated system that can be used for the convention on Farm Sustainability Data Network for MF/AF.