Between aspirations and reality

Between aspirations and reality: Making farming, food systems and rural areas more resilient, sustainable and equitable

Knickel, K (University of Évora; Goethe University; Centre for Rural Research)
Redman, M. (Highclere Consulting)
Darnhofer, I. (BOKU-University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences)
Ashkenazy, A. (TU Delft Energie and Industrie)
Calvão Chebach, T. (Tel Aviv University)
Šumane, Sandra (Baltic Studies Centre)
Tisenkopfs, Talis (Baltic Studies Centre)
Zemeckis, R. (Aleksandras Stulginskis University)
Atkociuniene, V. (Aleksandras Stulginskis University)
Rivera, M (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid)
Strauss, A (BOKU-University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences)
Kristensen, L. S. (University of Copenhagen)
de Schiller, S (Goethe University)
Koopmans, M. E. (Universiteit Gent; Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO))
Rogge, E. (Universiteit Gent)

2017

This paper explores the connections between farm modernisation, rural development and the resilience of agricultural and rural systems. The paper starts by ascertaining why agricultural and food systems need to change systemically. Evidence from case studies in fourteen countries is used to explore the possibilities for, and drivers and limitations of systemic change in four thematic areas: the resilience of farms and rural areas; prosperity and well-being; knowledge and innovation, and; the governance of agriculture and rural areas. In each area, we identify a major mismatch between visions and strategies on the one hand, and market developments, policy measures and outcomes on the other. The first theme is of growing concern as there has been an observable decrease in the social-ecological resilience of farms and of rural communities in recent decades. The second theme emerges as important as the concentration of production in some regions or some farms is directly linked to the marginalisation of others. The third theme illustrates that local farmer-driven innovations can teach us much, especially since farmers focus on efficiently using the resources available to them, including their location-specific experiential knowledge. Through the final theme we show that informal networks can balance different interests and approaches, which is essential for integrated rural development strategies and projects. Our findings in these four thematic areas have implications for the strategic frameworks and policy of the EU (and beyond) and future research agendas. We explicitly draw these out. The 14 case studies show that practitioners, grassroots initiatives and pilot programmes are already generating a wealth of experiences and knowledge that could be fruitfully used to inform higher-level policy development. The paper concludes that systemic change requires more critical reflection of conventional wisdom and approaches, and openness to ideas and practices that are outside the mainstream.

Agriculture
Governance
Innovation
Policy
Resilience
Rural
Social-ecological systems
Sustainability
Transformation

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:66d1b1bf-f80e-4cc9-ba35-2e20a1cfc191

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2017.04.012

2019-07-01

0743-0167

Journal of Rural Studies

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2017 K Knickel, M. Redman, I. Darnhofer, A. Ashkenazy, T. Calvão Chebach, Sandra Šumane, Talis Tisenkopfs, R. Zemeckis, V. Atkociuniene, M Rivera, A Strauss, L. S. Kristensen, S de Schiller, M. E. Koopmans, E. Rogge