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Knowledge4Policy
Knowledge for policy
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  • Publication | 2024

How to design “intercrops friendly” policies? Lessons from the analysis of the barriers to intercropping in Europe

Global Food and Nutrition Security

Key messages:

  • Despite its potential to increase the sustainability of our agricultural system, intercropping has virtually disappeared from the agricultural landscapes of European member states,
  • The spread of intercropping is hindered by barriers of different types (e.g., cultural, financial, organisational, technical) affecting all levels of the food value chain,
  • Barriers emerge from a complex web of interactions and may reinforce one another. When it comes to identifying solutions, the whole causal chains linking barriers together should be considered.
  • Intercropping won’t develop without a coordinated commitment from all stakeholders of the food value chain, including policy makers.
  • Policymakers can foster the use of intercropping by promoting the development of coordinated value chains adapted to intercropping, enhancing the involvement of stakeholders in policy making, ensuring coherency between policy objectives and instruments, increasing and facilitating the access to financial support for all actors involved in intercropping value chains, and fostering advisor training and knowledge transfer. These actions should be implemented altogether to address the systemic aspect of the intercropping lock-ins.