Valorising and balancing the ecosystem service benefits offered by legumes, and legume-based cropped systems

Project Information

LegumES

Grant agreement ID: 101135512

DOI

10.3030/101135512

EC signature date 15 November 2023

Start date 1 January 2024

End date 31 December 2027

Funded under

• Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

Total cost

€ 4 619 172,50

EU contribution

€ 4 619 172,50

Coordinated by

UNIVERSIDADE CATOLICA PORTUGUESA
Portugal

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - LegumES (Valorising and balancing the ecosystem service benefits offered by legumes, and legume-based cropped systems)

Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2025-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The LegumES project, “Valorizing and balancing the ecosystem service benefits offered by legumes, and legume-based cropped systems”, responds to urgent European and global challenges in agriculture, biodiversity, climate resilience, and food system sustainability. Legumes are uniquely positioned to deliver multiple ecosystem services (ES), including biological nitrogen fixation, enhancing soil fertility and function, supporting biodiversity, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, the potential of legumes remains underutilised due to a fragmented knowledge and evidence base, limited policy support, and insufficient stakeholder engagement. Hence, the overarching goal of legumES is to deliver the tools to monitor ES indicators (ESIs), and evidence ES delivery across scales from field- and farm, to national and global. This facilitative framework seeks to see levels of legumes inclusion increase to values capable of delivering the highest agroecological standards; standards which see improved soil- and water-qualities, climate impact resilience, and enhanced biodiversity; and delivered in an equitable manner – in support of a variety of EU-policies. LegumES is structured around seven interlinked Work Packages (WPs), each addressing a strategic objective.

1. Stakeholder Engagement & Capacity Building (WP1, WP2): empower farmers, advisors, students, and value chain actors through participatory research, Living Labs, and training.
2. Quantification of Ecosystem Services (WP2, WP3, WP4): develop practical tools and methodologies to measure ES and ecosystem service indicators in environmental and economic terms.
3. Environmental Assessment & Policy Integration (WP2–WP5): evaluate legume benefits at cropping system and value chain levels and inform policy solutions.
4. Economic Valorization (WP2, WP4): demonstrate the economic potential of legumes across scales, from field to EU level.
5. Policy Enablement (WP1, WP5): support legislative and regulatory frameworks that facilitate ES delivery from biodiverse legume systems.
6. Multi-Scale ES Assessment (WP2–WP6): Improve ES delivery at local, regional, and national levels through decision-support tools and advisory instruments.
7. Coordination & Exploitation (WP7): ensure effective data management, dissemination, and exploitation of results.

LegumES is designed to deliver scientific, economic, environmental, and societal impacts:
• Scientific Impact: through harmonised ES integration into Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), development of farmer-accessible indicators, and robust data from 28 pilot studies and 28+ participatory farmer trials.
• Economic Impact: by quantifying ES in monetary terms and demonstrating profitability and resilience of legume systems, the project supports market uptake and policy incentives.
• Environmental Impact: Legumes contribute to reduced nitrogen inputs, improved soil health, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity enhancement.
• Societal Impact: through educational activities, consumer engagement, and cultural valorisation, LegumES fosters public awareness and behavioral change.

Social sciences play a critical role in stakeholder engagement, policy analysis, and behavioural modelling (e.g. Delphi surveys, agent-based models), while humanities contribute to cultural valorisation and educational outreach.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During the reporting period, legumES made substantial progress across all WPs. Key achievements include the following.
• Mobilisation of a wide network of farmers, advisors, researchers, and value-chain actors. Eleven multi-actor workshops held across 11 countries attracted 278 participants, providing a solid base for co-creation. Three Living Labs are now registered, with six more underway, while 28 Participatory Farmers and four Early Executors are engaged across 11 countries, ensuring strong field-level grounding (WP1).
• Establishment of 28 pilot studies and 28 participatory farmer trials across 11 countries, generating robust data on ES delivery such as nitrogen fixation, carbon sequestration, biodiversity enhancement, and soil health (WP1 and WP2).
• Development of farmer-accessible ES monitoring tools and protocols, compiled into the “Participatory Farmer Call Buddy Guidance” (WP2).
• Integration of ES into Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) using SALCA (Swiss Agricultural Life Cycle Assessment; a methodology to assess environmental impacts of agriculture); and delivered a comprehensive review of 148 methods to measure ES - for their suitability to integrate into LCA (WP3).
• Identification of 19 crop rotations (with and without legumes) for economic assessment, and completion of a systematic literature review on private and social ES values (WP4).
• Completion of policy mapping and stakeholder dialogues, highlighting gaps and opportunities in current EU and national policies related to legume ES (WP5).
• Development of decision-support tools including the AgriToolkit and Ecosystem Service Navigator (ESN), enabling quantitative assessment of ES at field, farm, and regional levels (WP6).

These achievements lay the foundation for broader uptake, impact assessment, and policy integration in the next phase of the project.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

LegumES has delivered several results that go beyond the current state of the art in legume-based agriculture and ES assessment. These include the development of farmer-accessible ES monitoring tools, integration of ES/ESIs into LCA frameworks, and initiated the creation of decision-support systems like the AgriToolkit and Ecosystem Service Navigator. The project has also advanced understanding of ES trade-offs and synergies through participatory trials and pilot studies across diverse European regions. To ensure further uptake and success, current approaches to validate the utility of ESIs need refined and demonstrated in a wide variety of real-world legume-based settings. Success in this regard should see enhanced access to funding for farmers and SMEs seeking to evidence the benefits of home-grown legume-based solutions - in alignment with regulatory frameworks that incentivise ES delivery.

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