Enhancing Sustainability in Mediterranean Agroforestry Systems: A Living Lab ‘Follow-the-Thing’ Assessment of Products and Value Chains

Abstract

Mediterranean agroforestry represents a diverse set of socio-ecological systems that provide a variety of agri-food products while preserving key ecosystem services, and linking local value chains to international consumers. However, increasing pressures from intensive production practices and environmental change threaten its long-term sustainability. In response, the PRIMA section 2 SHARE (Shared Innovations for Mediterranean Agroforestry Systems) project focuses on the resilience of tree-based agroforestry systems through Living Lab approaches, promoting the co-creation, stakeholder engagement, and collaborative innovation within public-private partnership. This study uses an interdisciplinary approach to assess the present status of agroforestry products and their interactions with consumers across the Mediterranean region. The analysis combines a review of academic literature, policy documents, and project reports with qualitative value-chain assessments conducted in selected living labs, using a “follow-the-thing” method to monitor products from production to consumption. The analysis is based on the first step in the argan-based agro-sylvo-pastoral system of Ait Souab-Ait Mansour, registered under the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) Programme and located within the Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve in Souss Massa region of Morocco. This case study is compared with other typical agroforestry systems, including olive groves in Central Italy, tree-trained vineyards in Occitanie (France), the Montado system in southern Portugal, olive groves with livestock grazing in Cyprus and in south-eastern Tunisia. The outcomes of the comparative study highlight challenges and system-specific synergies, as well as consumer preferences that can support the development of more sustainable agroforestry value chains.Keywords: Agroforestry, Value chains, Ecosystem Services, Mediterranean region, argan system.