EMEF 2025 Agroforestry Program Grants
Agroforestry Northwest – $149,688
To boost agroforestry adoption in the Pacific Northwest including break down barriers and create a strong network of agencies and professionals to help landowners implement agroforestry practices more quickly. To strengthen community ties to the land including increasing access to land, fostering opportunities for people to connect in the co-creation of local food systems, tend ecosystems, and grow their own food and medicines through collective agroforestry models. To inspire new visions for the region through the arts by creating a larger audience through the arts we can inspire action and investment in agroforestry, raising awareness and promoting new ideas for land use in the Pacific Northwest. To integrate Indigenous knowledge and communities by creating genuine opportunities and authentically collaborate with marginalized Indigenous communities, fully integrating their ways of knowing into how agroforestry shapes the future of the Pacific Northwest.
Philanthropic funding is critical in providing non-federal match for small nonprofits like AFNW and provides key support for filling funding gaps to include awareness building around Agroforestry Northwest’s multi-pronged approach to accelerate PNW agroforestry.
Appalachian Sustainable Development – $406,929
To improve agroforestry technical assistance to meet the growing support needs of producers seeking adoption. Project partners will combine expertise to expand Agroforestry Trainings for Natural Resource Professionals (ATFNRP) including – Raising awareness about ATFNRP, while developing lasting partnerships with natural resource professionals (NRPs) and mentor farmers for program participation; Creating a replicable training model for ATFNRP to facilitate expansion nationwide, including downloadable workshop curriculum and pathways for professional certification; Developing and implementing in-person and virtual agroforestry training, educating NRPs and mentor farmers to build their technical capacity to scale agroforestry adoption; and Building an agroforestry NRP mentorship network for peer learning and ongoing support.
Cornell Cooperative Extension Tompkins County – $412,295
To mature and refine scalable agroforestry prototypes – practices, products, and partnerships – that strengthen farm viability, support working lands, and deliver community and environmental benefits across New York State and beyond. We envision clear shifts in the supply chain and on the landscape: functioning models that can serve as roadmaps for broader adoption and early markets that support farmer profitability; the systems that support them; and a statewide network ready to move from experimentation toward scale. To ensure farmers across New York have land access, management capacity, and planting materials needed to adopt, maintain, and grow agroforestry systems. To Strengthen New York’s production analysis, research capacity, and market infrastructure to support viable, scalable agroforestry systems. To Build a coordinated, multi-tiered network to raise awareness, align efforts and funding, and elevate agroforestry as a practical, economically viable, and ecologically grounded land stewardship strategy.
Rodale Institute (Propagate Ventures Project) – $400,000
To fund key personnel and operational expenses that will stabilize our agroforestry hubs during their critical early management phase; these demonstration hubs serve as both proof-of-concept and critical infrastructure for future replication and investment. To allocate matching contributions toward high-impact management and monitoring efforts, including organic fertility measurement, tree health and performance assessments, as well as bird and insect diversity monitoring. To demonstrate to farms how to achieve productive plantings and to accurately assess the costs associated with moving beyond the establishment phase into full productivity. The resulting cost data will provide farmers and financing partners with a precise economic understanding of what is required to achieve production in agroforestry transitions. From an agronomic perspective, phenotyping, tissue sampling, and soil sampling have been instrumental in identifying critical field management issues. In terms of biodiversity, early monitoring of these projects has demonstrated a 1.4x net increase in bird habitat and a 2x increase in insect habitat within two years of planting. These monitoring activities are key to system health, stakeholder confidence, and long-term viability. By continuing monitoring we can continue to showcase those benefits for both production and ecosystems. Moreover, they strengthen our ability to attract investments by landowners to replicate these systems in new geographies.
Virginia Tech – $457,000
To support Catalyzing the Next Phase of Agroforestry program (CAGP) past awardees through structured outreach to assess performance following establishment, as well as dedicate a portion of funding to provide technical guidance and replanting or maintenance assistance based on need; future CAGP farm tours through the ARK Exchange (ARKx) network will expand agroforestry stakeholder connection. To continue building program scale and diversity, Virginia Tech will partner with The Minority Landowner Magazine (MLM) to conduct targeted promotion and technical assistance for underrepresented producers, as well as earmark a notable portion of CAGP funding for specific MLM-led projects. To expand farm tours into new regions, Virginia Tech and MLM will work with CAGP awardees in the Midwest, Northeast, West, and Hawaii. Furthermore, MLM will host three dedicated ARKx peer-to-peer farm tours alongside its CAGP efforts among underrepresented producers.