The Organisation
Food forests are agriculture and nature conservation in one. They produce high-quality food and tackle the polycrises of our time at the same time. Our mission is to bring more and more food forests to the world and to drive the transformation of agriculture. That’s why we connect with people and projects that want to contribute. Together we promote and advocate food forests, by sharing knowledge, offering education and stimulate networking.
We are an active network and see ourselves as such. Our aim is to connect and support as many people as possible who are interested in growing new or existing food forests
Vision & Mission
Our vision is a future in which regenerative agriculture and biodiverse agroforestry systems and food forests have replaced industrial agriculture. They feed humanity and contribute to a sustainable and just world.
We promote the transformation of agriculture by establishing species-rich agroforestry systems, food forests, inspiring people and connecting stakeholders.
Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share
Our motto is: ‘Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share’. We believe that there is no other way than to work in harmony with nature: We show an alternative and uplifting agriculture based on the principles of permaculture, among others. It is important to us that farmers receive a fair income.
Organisational structure
FoodForestNetwork e.V. is a Berlin-based non-profit organisation. The current board members are: Jens Hauck (founder and chairman), Markus Uhle (treasurer) and Johannes Straßner.
As a network we are a young organisation. We are working on an organisational structure that will support the impact of the network. Our organisational model was inspired by self-organising organisations. This means that we work with the following bodies:
Kernteam
The Kernteam currently consists of five people who meet weekly to discuss strategic and operational issues. The entire FFN Executive Board is represented in this core team. Progress and decisions are recorded in minutes.
Workgroups
We have various working groups (AGs), which basically work independently and are self-organised. At least one person from the core team is represented in each working group abd vice versa. There are currently the following WGs: Knowledge, Education, Communication and Funding.
Projects
Our current projects include co-operations with food forest projects in different climate zones. In these projects, people work and learn together to plan, create and manage food forests.
Once a month, there is an exchange between all the groups mentioned: Kernteam, workgroups and projects. This keeps everyone informed about current developments and makes it clear who needs support from another group.
We are always on the lookout for committed people who want to join us!
Become a member
Would you like to actively participate or support our work with a membership? Then join us as a member! We welcome all people who share our guiding principles and want to be part of the solution.
We look forward to meeting you!
Would you like to become a member of our association, but still have questions? Then we look forward to hearing from you!
Cooperations
We are currently working with various partners and look forward to further collaborations with organisations that:
- Promoting food forests, species-rich agroforestry systems – just like us,
- Gathering knowledge about agroforestry and conducting research into this sustainable agricultural method,
- Spreading knowledge about food forests and species-rich agroforestry systems.
Our partners:
DeFAF: Deutscher Fachverband für Agroforstwirtschaft
The Dutch Association: VoedseluithetBos / FoodfromtheForest
Together we can accomplish more!
History of the association
What began in 2004 as a travel experience in southern Senegal has developed into an international network for sustainable agriculture. From Sarsarale e.V., an association that promoted education, health, and sustainability, emerged the FoodForestNetwork e.V. in 2024 – a project dedicated to promoting biodiverse agroforestry systems. The name “Sarsarale” means “everywhere!” in the West African language Wolof and reflected the association’s mission: Education. Health. Sustainability. Everywhere! – For people, society, and nature.
