The overall objective of TRANSFORMED is to support and promote a large scale implementation of successful agroforestry systems (AFS) in saline and highly soil degraded areas as a tool to restore soil health and increase biodiversity and productivity of the agroecosystems by overcoming the identified barriers for adaption. TRANSFORMED is designed with the premise that previous research and technological advances made by both researchers and practitioners have evidenced that certain AFS crops and designs are successful cost-effective tools for soil restoration in highly degraded areas. However, a large-scale up adoption will only occur when the main socio-cultural, -economic, and -political barriers are considered in the restoration strategies. TRANSFORMED brings together social and environmental scientist, agronomist and economist, practitioners, private sector, decision and policy makers, governmental national agencies and civil society in a multidisciplinary and multi-actor environment, to create an enabling context for AFS adoption.

TRANSFORMED has identified 4 successful AFS restoration experiences, lighthouses, in Morocco (Oulad Bou Said/Oulad Jdi Commune, and Lahyatla, Oulad mrabet commune), Tunisia (Sbaihia site), and Turkiye (Konya/Sarayönü): carob AFS, argan AFS, sylvopastoral system and multilayer AFS for wind-erosion protection. TRANSFORMED will promote and adapt these experiences to 11 new different regions, including saline, wind-eroded and highly degraded land, i.e., Sebt Oulad Bour Hadi Sebt Jahjouhe and Lahyatla, Oulad mrabet, Ben Guerir in Morocco, Konya (Cihanbeyli, Ereğli,), Kırşehir (Çiçekdağı) in Turkiye and Zaghouan and Sousse in Tunisia. TRANSFORMED will promote the use of more than native and traditional plants, some of them with high economical value and with high potential for value chain development. In addition, the successful AFS restoration in Montado (Portugal) will be the lighthouse for policies (result-based models) and used as one of the planned activities for south-north and north-south learning exchange.