Mixed farming and agroforestry systems both at farm and territorial level are found to have potential to improve circularity and resilience while supporting sustainability goals, although profitability and labour efficiency vary depending on context. The MIXED project highlights that the efficiency and resilience of MiFAS are highly context-specific, influenced by local conditions and socio-economic contexts. Evaluations at farm and landscape level showed different results and indicated that other specificities also need to be considered, e.g. at the sub-national level, in natural conditions, in traditional practices and in the resulting cultural landscapes. Besides rather common examples of MiFAS’ setups in Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, additional case studies from Poland, Germany, and Romania highlight the adaptability and environmental benefits of MiFAS.

Challenges in transitioning

The transition to MiFAS confronts farmers and the larger agri-food system with both general and transition-specific challenges. Among the latter are barriers such as a need for cultural shifts and high initial investments, as well as systemic inertia due to entrenched large-scale monoculture practices. Other challenges may persist beyond the transition, chiefly profitability concerns which arise from inadequate market compensation for MiFAS products and subsequent conflicts between short-term economic goals and long-term sustainability, as well as labour demands and regulatory barriers. Furthermore, there are technical issues such as the need for specialised machinery, as well as knowledge gaps in diversified farming, and limited advisory support. Regulatory frameworks often present increased administrative burdens and legal uncertainties for mixed farms. Weak integration into supply chains, insufficient remuneration of public goods provided and increased costs incurred by MiFAS, both by the markets and public funding, as well as lack of understanding of MiFAS benefits in society further hinder adoption.

Recommendations for MiFAS

Policy recommendations from the MIXED project involve integrated, science-based, and collaborative approaches to promote sustainable, resilient, and economically viable mixed farming and agroforestry systems (MiFAS) across the EU. Systemic policy changes, improved funding mechanisms, capacity building, and increased public and institutional awareness of the environmental, economic, resilience and social contributions of MiFAS are cornerstones of the recommendations.

Key strategies include enhancing research funding to close knowledge gaps on long-term benefits of MiFAS, fostering transdisciplinary research with strong farmer participation, and establishing peer to peer knowledge-sharing networks. Capacity-building initiatives should revise vocational training to focus on holistic, system-based learning and strengthen advisory services for diversified farming practices. Landscape-level strategies are recommended, in order to encourage regional cooperation, supported by intermediaries facilitating collaboration among stakeholders. The project results underscore the critical role of intermediary organisations in supporting transitions to MiFAS. Regulatory frameworks must be simplified to reduce administrative burdens for diversified land use practices, align with long-term stable policies that are sufficiently flexible to accommodate diverse MiFAS practices but nonetheless ensure overarching regulatory goals. Financial support should target both, the transition phase during the establishment as well as the ongoing management of MiFAS, through investment grants, compensation for the provision of public goods, and support for cooperative ap-proaches to improving the market position of mixed farms.

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