https://www.ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/zukunftsblog/archiv/2014/06/reforestation-a-chance-for-farmers.html
"The abandonment of marginal lands by small-scale farmers who cannot compete with large intensive agricultural enterprises" is not to look at with optimism. Only small scale farming can be sustained without powerful mechanization, hence without direct or indirect use of fossil fuels.
To pay for getting back farmers to the land and become forester, make sense only to start a new condition that become sustainable on the long term, and does not decay when those subsidies are ended for any reason.
This goal could be accomplished by creating food forests. More than money, a key factor is that those peoples should get instructions on how to prepare their land without depending on fossil fuels, receive seeds and animals, and dispose of enough space: making a large variety of food all along the year, to finally maintain themselves.
