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Project Topic
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The overall objective of TRANSFORMED is to support and promote a large scale implementation of successful agroforestry
systems (AFS) in saline and highly soil degraded areas as a tool to restore soil health and increase biodiversity and productivity
of the agroecosystems by overcoming the identified barriers for adaption. TRANSFORMED is designed with the premise that
previous research and technological advances made by both researchers and practitioners have evidenced that certain AFS
crops and designs are successful cost-effective tools for soil restoration in highly degraded areas. However, a large-scale up
adoption will only occur when the main socio-cultural, -economic, and -political barriers are considered in the restoration
strategies. TRANSFORMED brings together social and environmental scientist, agronomist and economist, practitioners, private
sector, decision and policy makers, governmental national agencies and civil society in a multidisciplinary and multi-actor
environment, to create an enabling context for AFS adoption.
TRANSFORMED has identified 4 successful AFS restoration experiences, lighthouses, in Morocco (Oulad Bou Said/Oulad Jdi
Commune, and Lahyatla, Oulad mrabet commune), Tunisia (Sbaihia site), and Turkiye (Konya/Sarayönü): carob AFS, argan AFS,
sylvopastoral system and multilayer AFS for wind-erosion protection. TRANSFORMED will promote and adapt these experiences
to 11 new different regions, including saline, wind-eroded and highly degraded land, i.e., Sebt Oulad Bour Hadi Sebt Jahjouhe
and Lahyatla, Oulad mrabet, Ben Guerir in Morocco, Konya (Cihanbeyli, Ereğli,), Kırşehir (Çiçekdağı) in Turkiye and Zaghouan and
Sousse in Tunisia. TRANSFORMED will promote the use of more than native and traditional plants, some of them with high
economical value and with high potential for value chain development. In addition, the successful AFS restoration in Montado
(Portugal) will be the lighthouse for policies (result-based models) and used as one of the planned activities for south-north and
north-south learning exchange.
The consortium of TRANSFORMED is unique for the strength, complementarity and interdisciplinarity of its consortium. Previous
work of the consortium has provided solid background on the adoption constraints of AFS but also on the best suitable
approaches to overcome them. These experiences are essential for designing a project with the ambitionof having impactnot
only on the selectedregions but also on a larger scale.
TRANSFORMED is completely aligned with the scope of PRIMA 1.2.1-2023 and, in addition to the expected mentioned impacts,
it will contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation, create new market opportunities and promote traditional crops
and culture.
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