Value chains

The project undertakes climate and environmental impact assessments of the whole value chains linked to Mixed Farming and Agroforestry Systems (MiFAS), and in addition, the economic impacts of MiFAS are assessed along with an assessment of the governance and infrastructure in the value chains. The effect of integration in the mixed farming systems will be evaluated at the area and product level for various environmental and economic impacts. Methodologies, including Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and cost-benefit assessments that incorporates all the impacts along the value chain are used and developed in collaboration with networks of farmers and stakeholders from selected value chain network case studies (in Portugal, Austria, Netherlands and Denmark).

The case studies are chosen to obtain a broad geographical spread in Europe and in order to get examples of different mixed farming and agroforestry systems to analyse possible climate, environmental and economic effects of integrating the systems.

The project specifically develops LCA methodologies with regard to the complexity of MiFAS, the climate mitigation potential and carbon sequestration in woody biomass and soils, and inclusion of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Thus, the LCA methodology will be adapted to the selected value chains and mixed farming systems including modelling of carbon sequestration and biodiversity. The assessment of governance and infrastructure will include analysis of type of governance, strengths and weaknesses in terms of the network structure, possible alternatives in terms of supply and outlets in case of disturbance.

The research addressing value chains will deliver reports on:

Three key takeaways from the MIXED project in value chains

☘️ Mixed and agroforestry systems has the potential of environmental advantages over specialised farming systems. However, these benefits are highly context-dependent, influenced by system design and management practices. If it is possible to include more trees into agricultural systems without compromising yields, there will be a positive climate effect. If nutrients, manure, feed and land are used more efficiently compared to the current system, there will be a positive environmental impact. However, including extra livestock compared to our current agricultural systems will increase emissions and there is a limit on how much carbon sequestration can counteract livestock emissions. The study also underscores the need for improved LCA methodologies to better capture the multifunctional nature of mixed and agroforestry systems.

☘️ Overall we conclude that the socio-economic consequences of mixed farming on productivity, efficiency, and riskiness of the production are lower than literature suggests. While this might be a reason for the so far low uptake of mixed systems in Europe, this suggests potential pathways for policy makers to support the adoption if the ecological benefits outweigh the costs of this support.

☘️ It appears that value chains exhibit stronger impacts on social resilience, than level of farm mixedness itself. This is in part caused by the lower level of diversification observed on mixed farms in terms of their outlet channels for each type of product sold. In addition, “more mixed” seem to be associated with a more connected network as well as a higher influence of central and specific actors.

Research coordinator

Value chains

Marie Trydeman Knudsen (Department of Agroecology)
Phone: +4522258387
E-mail: mariet.knudsen@agro.au.dk
Web: https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/persons/marie-trydeman-knudsen(f409fce7-7fa9-494a-a089-7965887b5bd9).html

Value chains Marie Trydeman Knudsen, Professor at Aarhus University, Department of Agroecology, explains how the MIXED project undertakes climate and environmental impact assessments of the whole value chains linked to Mixed Farming and Agroforestry Systems (MiFAS).

Revised 20.03.2025

Janne Rasmussen