General information and context: The Living Lab is located in Sicily, where agroforestry is not yet widespread and agriculture is still largely shaped by monocultures and traditional extensive practices. Growing attention from regional and European rural-development policies is promoting pilot initiatives that integrate trees, crops and livestock to enhance resilience and sustainability.
Main challenges (faced by agroforestry farmers): Agroforestry farmers in Sicily face limited technical knowledge, scarce advisory services and a lack of local examples or demonstration sites. Bureaucratic complexity and insufficient financial incentives further hinder adoption and long-term maintenance. Overall, many practitioners are unfamiliar with agroforestry and other agroecological practices.
Opportunities for development and scaling up of agroforestry: Sicily offers opportunities for scaling agroforestry due to its rich agricultural biodiversity, degraded land suitable for restoration and increasing interest in sustainable and climate-resilient farming. Support from European policies, carbon-farming schemes and regional agroecology frameworks can further promote the expansion of agroforestry.
Objectives / Innovations targeted: The Living Lab aims to introduce new agronomic approaches by adding an herbaceous component into traditional vineyards and almond orchards to improve the land-equivalent ratio. It also seeks to demonstrate the provision of key ecosystem services to support the scaling up of agroforestry systems in Sicily.
Demo Site 1
General information: The site is located in Rodi Milici (Messina, Italy), in a semi-arid Mediterranean climate at around 100 m a.s.l.. It consists of a rainfed vineyard for red wine production with barley, burr medic or mixtures of both.
General farming approach: Organic farming
Design of the agroforestry system and field trial: The agroforestry area covers 512 m², while 54 m² are used for a monocropping comparison. The experiment follows a randomized block design with three replications.
Expected benefits from the agroforestry system: Expected benefits include agronomic, environmental, economic and social aspects.
Monitoring / Targeted ecosystem services: Monitoring activities concentrate on a wide range of ecosystem services. They include provisioning services, such as crop yield and indicators like the land equivalent ratio that reflect overall productivity. They also incorporate water regulating services and supporting services, with particular attention to soil organic matter that indicates long-term soil fertility. In addition, the cultural ecosystem service in terms of contribution to the landscape is considered.
Demo Site 2
General information: The second site is located in Noto (Syracuse, Italy), at 19 m a.s.l., in a semi-arid Mediterranean climate. It consists of a rainfed almond orchard with barley, burr medic or mixtures of the two.
General farming approach: Organic farming
Design of the agroforestry system and field trial: The agroforestry area covers 2,025 m², while 135 m² are used for a monocropping comparison. The experiment follows a randomized block design with three replications.
Expected benefits from the agroforestry system: Expected benefits include agronomic, environmental, economic and social aspects.
Monitoring / Targeted ecosystem services: Monitoring activities concentrate on a wide range of ecosystem services. They include provisioning services, such as crop yield and indicators like the land equivalent ratio that reflect overall productivity. They also incorporate water regulating services and supporting services, with particular attention to soil organic matter that indicates long-term soil fertility. In addition, the cultural ecosystem service in terms of contribution to the landscape is considered.
The business models will look at direct income streams through the sale of grapes and almonds, as well as value-added processing of wine, fodder and silage. Indirect income streams through financing opportunities for agroforestry in Sicily mainly come from the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), particularly through Rural Development Programs supporting agro-environmental measures, afforestation, and diversification. Additional funding can be accessed via the European Green Deal, LIFE projects, Horizon Europe research initiatives, and national or regional calls promoting climate adaptation and sustainable land management.
