Step forward to become a host farmer

WHEN Kerry Social Farming was established in South Kerry by South Kerry Development Partnership in 2013, it did so to innovatively target an increasingly marginalised farming community within the county and to include participants, people with a range of disabilities in the life of their own local community. These two ideals have been to the forefront of Kerry Social Farming as it has evolved and grown.

Enhancing the social inclusion of people with disabilities in rural communities is a core objective of Kerry Social Farming. The bottom-up, voluntary-based model of Kerry Social Farming aims to tackle the barriers to social inclusion that people with disabilities in rural communities face, by harnessing the innate community and voluntary spirit in our rural communities. In particular, the farming community is at the heart of rural life in Ireland and thus is ideally placed to facilitate people with disabilities becoming more engaged in their local rural communities.

The vision of Kerry Social Farming is to promote and operate social farming in Kerry as a viable option for achieving improved quality of life, greater inclusion and community networking for people with disabilities.

The Kerry Social Farming project works as a collective in a shared service with the social care service providers, people with disabilities, local communities, local development companies, national and local government, the business community, farm organisations & farm families, to develop and provide social farming opportunities in Kerry. A dedicated working group comprised of these key stakeholders provides the management and operational oversight for the project. I want to take this opportunity to thank the Kerry Social farming working group members for their dedication and commitment to the project. It would not function without their combined collective efforts.

Funding provided by the Dept. of Agriculture, Food & the Marine through the Rural Innovation Fund provides the core funding for our project and without this funding our project would not be operational. I want to thank Michael Creed T.D. Minister For Agriculture Food & the Marine and his Dept. for their financial support. It is very much appreciated.

Central to the operation of this project is that the host farmer and families offer their time on a voluntary basis to enable individuals engage in farming life. The Kerry Social Farming Project would not be possible without the very generous voluntary commitment of our host farmers and their families. The commitment and dedication that our host farmers have in supporting and providing opportunities for people with disabilities, across County Kerry, cannot be underestimated and I want to acknowledge and to sincerely thank them for their generosity in providing social farming opportunities for our project participants. I am delighted that this supplement tells their social farming stories.

A special word of thanks to our project participants. You are at the heart of our project and we have been enriched by your participation and contributions in the daily life of our farms. We look forward to your continued participation and positive engagement.

Over the past five years, Kerry Social Farming has achieved steady and sustainable growth increasing from 4 host farmers in 2013 to 19 host farmers to-date in 2019 and increasing from 76 social farming days in the period July to December 2013 to 451 social farming days in the period January to June 2019. Kerry Social Farming participants have also increased from 4 in 2013 to 36 in 2019.

The Kerry Social Farming Working Group has recently completed a five year (2020 – 2024) Development Plan for the project. Our aim is to grow the project to support 100 participants with 50 host farmers. We need to grow the project to meet the level of demand from people with disabilities who wish to avail of Kerry Social Farming opportunities. Unfortunately despite our growth, we have a waiting list of participants and this list will continue to grow unless we can secure more host farmers to participate. We really need more farmers to become involved in the project and I would urge the farming community in Kerry to get involved in the project by becoming a host farmer. Dedicated Social Farming staff members on-the-ground at an operational level working with the disability service providers, along with funding provided by our funders ensures supports are in place for both the farmer and the participant.

It is my sincere hope that the stories of our current host farmers and their participants in this publication will encourage more farmers to step forward and become host farmers. We need your support.