Growing trees for the greater good – German agroforestry farmers are driven by self-transcendence values

Despite the German government's ambitious objective of expanding the area of agroforestry to 200,000 ha by 2027, German farmers have been slow to integrate this ecologically-friendly land-use practice into their farming portfolios. In view of this, previous studies have predominantly focused on the perceived barriers or attitudes of non-adopters to agroforestry uptake, while the pioneer's motivation to implement agroforestry has rarely been the subject of investigation. We aim to provide a deeper understanding of the underlying reasons of agroforestry farmers' behaviour, employing Shalom H. Schwartz's value theory. We hypothesise that German agroforestry farmers are more open to change and demonstrate a greater capacity for altruistic values compared to the average German farmer. Incorporating the ‘21-Item Portraits Value Questionnaire’ into an online survey facilitated an examination of the personal values of German agroforestry farmers and a comparison with previously surveyed values of German farmers.

Our results provide a comprehensive description of the formerly undocumented population of German agroforestry farmers (N = 40), including characteristics of their farms and agroforestry systems. The overall value portrait reveals that the highly self-transcendent German agroforestry farmers exhibit a greater concern for the common good than any other group of farmers analysed to date. The low score for 'Self-Enhancement' suggests that the greater good is more important to agroforestry practitioners than their personal benefit. Our findings yield implications for the legal framework and promotional activities pertaining to agroforestry.