On January 29th 2025, the Swedish Agricultural University Partnership Alnarp, along with the Swedish CICS#2 and the project “Bönan till Bordet” held a workshop titled “Hur får vi bönan till bordet?” (“How do we get beans to the table?). Twenty-five participants from 14 organizations representing research, advisory services, regional governance, civil society, food business actors and farming met in Alnarp, Skåne on the campus of the Swedish Agricultural University (SLU). The purpose of the workshop was to collectively prioritize barriers and identify levers for scaling intercropping systems in Sweden based on the experiences of the participants.
Refined Barrier Hierarchy for Intercropping from Stakeholder Deliberation
After a short presentation of the IntercropVALUES project and a description of the five barriers that were pre-identified as the most impactful to the adoption of intercropping legumes and cereals in Sweden, the group split into two to discuss their thoughts and ideas around the barriers. After animated and energetic discussions, participants engaged in a structured process to rank the barriers based on relevance and impact. The results of the ranking were – with 1 being the most critical and 5 being the least:
- Low consumer demand for local legumes – A failure at the market level that suppresses signals throughout the value chain. The absence of visible demand undermines differentiation, reduces processor interest, and limits retailer engagement.
- On-farm complexity and uncertainty – Challenges include lack of access to appropriate seed, disease risk, and limited agronomic guidance on integrating intercrops into rotations or existing farm systems.
- Low awareness of intercropping benefits – Despite strong scientific consensus, perceived value among advisors, buyers, and even farmers remains uneven.
- Infrastructure constraints – Sorting, drying, and storage challenges persist, particularly for small and mid-scale operations, where economies of scale are limited.
- OTHER – (individually specified)Net profitability over time in comparison with other crops; Lack of “added value” for IC crops; Availability and efficiency of chemical fertilizers in cereal and legume crops.
To summarize: key challenges in promoting intercropping and legume cultivation include low consumer demand for local legumes, limited farmer awareness of intercropping benefits, and on-farm uncertainties such as lack of knowledge, seed availability, and disease risks. Additional barriers involve logistical issues like sorting, drying, and storage, as well as economic concerns such as lower net profitability compared to other crops, limited added value for intercropped species, and the variable efficiency of chemical fertilizers in cereals and legumes.
Leverage Points for Systemic Uptake of Intercropping
To augment the information collected in the workshop and to delve deeper into potential solutions or levers that could ameliorate barriers to intercropping in Sweden, CICS 2 interviewed farmers, advisors, and suppliers to ask what their thoughts and experiences are around intercropping, and what – in their opinion – can improve the adoption of this agricultural practice? The levers discussed span organizational, cultural, financial, and market-related sectors and vary in ease of implementation and potential impact.
The cultural transformation was a recurring theme, with the recommendation to promote and showcase pioneering farmers who adopt innovative and diversified practices. This lever aims to gradually shift the prevailing norms within Swedish agriculture toward greater openness to intercropping and sustainable practices. While the expected impact is high—a more innovative and adaptive farming culture—this cultural shift is acknowledged as difficult to achieve in the short term and would require sustained efforts and visibility. One stakeholder highlighted the readiness of Swedes to adopt changes in lifestyle, specifically diet, but noted that this eagerness for change is limited somewhat to major urban centers and did not spread easily to the countryside.
To further stimulate change, financial incentives based on land use practices were proposed. Subsidizing farmers who adopt intercropping or other sustainable methods can help offset perceived risks and encourage innovation. Though it is moderately challenging to implement due to policy dependencies, this lever could yield immediate benefits if aligned with existing EU frameworks and agricultural support systems.
From a market perspective, the importance of changing food culture and demand patterns was highlighted. A market-driven lever involves increasing consumer awareness and demand for local legumes and intercropped products. This approach requires cooperation from major retailers and food actors and is considered to have a high potential impact if major players commit to shifting procurement practices and product offerings.
Lastly, addressing the regulatory framework and quality standards was identified as a high-priority market-related lever. Current regulations and scoring systems may disadvantage smaller producers or novel cropping systems. By revising these frameworks to ensure fairness and accessibility, stakeholders believe it would be possible to unlock broader participation in diversified farming systems.
Together, these levers represent a multi-dimensional strategy that acknowledges both the systemic challenges and the opportunities to promote more resilient and sustainable agricultural practices in Sweden. One key take-away message was that the challenges are not simple, and resolution will take time, and a sustained effort that spans the food value chain. At the time of writing this report, several initiatives specifically target increasing legume consumption and the market share of locally grown legumes in Sweden. So, it may not be such a big leap to expand on these initiatives to support intercropped legumes and cereals.
While intercropping legumes and cereals is not widespread in Sweden, some farmers do practice this mode of agriculture – but mostly for their own use (for example livestock feed). Providing impetus for change towards making it a more common practice is not straightforward or simple, but it does seem possible provided pressure is applied in the right places in the food value chain (for example: leveling the playing field for small-scale producers who use innovative agricultural methods). We gathered valuable insight into both the barriers to intercropping as well as potential levers through the workshop and subsequent interviews. There is an interest in more sustainable cropping practices in Sweden, the trick may be to build on the momentum of current initiatives to develop local, and national level strategies to alleviate barriers and access levers to intercropping.
This news item was written by Chandra Venables (Hushallningssallskapet, Sweden). Pictures by Raj Chongtham Iman (SLU, Sweden)