2. Local opportunities

The main opportunities for reed to integrate into the local food system are as fodder, bedding, and as green fertiliser or soil amendment.

These are all applications with a relatively low degree of processing, for which it is quite easy to identify small-scale demand locally near the reed harvesting site. These are all also application targets that have been tried and tested in various development projects over the years.

They can also all serve as complementary solutions for their users rather than primary or only solutions, in which case even a smaller scale of harvesting is sufficient. For example, as a feed, reed does not have to be the primary or only feed, but a complementary solution alongside hay and grass.

These opportunities can be seen as low-hanging fruits that are currently not being used very much. However, they could play an important role locally in the food system in creating cost savings and resilience, and of course in developing the landscape.