A radical new vision for the future of agriculture

Terry Marsden, of Cardiff University’s Sustainable Places Research Institute, calls on farmers to embrace the ‘green new deal’ offered by the ecological economy

WE ARE living through interesting and game-changing times with regard to the future of food and farming in the UK, and not least in Wales.

The accumulated and interrelated effects of at least four seismic shifts that affect us are now clear. Adjusting to climate change and significant biodiversity loss is an emergency now and over the next decade; but now we are also being buffeted by the disruptive and longterm effects of Brexit, Covid and growing food insecurity for many consumers, all of which are multiplying the vulnerabilities and uncertainties for the farming and food sector.

Not since the immediate post-war period have we needed to rethink the positioning of our food and agriculture to the future welfare of society as a whole.

None of this is new for those of us in the food and farming sector. But we need a coherent plan and a strategy for the future. We cannot rely on old tried and tested policies or assumptions of the past 50 years.

To survive and prosper, we need to project a new vision for Welsh food and agriculture in which we should “aim high”. Sustainable food provision will increasingly become a major priority over the next decade.

So far governments, whether in Cardiff or London, are struggling with these new realities. And the farming and rural community need urgently to map out and propose their renewed societal and economic role for an increasingly urbanised society which tends to assume food comes from “nowhere” and is taken for granted.

In some respects Covid, and indeed the prolonged Brexit process, is changing these assumptions. We need to capitalise on this. So what are some of the principles upon which this new pro-action should be based?

Embrace and develop Wales as a nation of agro-ecology – smarter farming

Agro-ecology is for some a frightening and complicated term. All it means is farming practice with nature and ecology, not using the full range of pesticides and other chemicals which pollute, and managing crops and livestock in ways which are less intensive, more mixed, and generally reducing farmers’ reliance upon costly farm inputs.

It means, as my Dutch friends call it, “farming economically”, it is smart farming and can enhance more independence for farm families in promoting diversification of their land and resources.

In many parts of Europe it is exploding as a diversified way of farming and agro-forestry. It is not dogmatic, and it is not necessarily linked directly to particular certification schemes.

Rather it celebrates, place-specific, diversified and nature-enhancing practices. And such a diversity of practices can create a more robust and resilient farm system that is less vulnerable ecologically and to market fluctuations.

As such, now is the time to mainstream these practices, with growing consumer demands for more local and nature-based foods and production systems – such as pasture and grazing-based livestock systems, less intensive cereals, and planting more horticultural crops for local markets.

Around Europe we and research colleagues have found that this does not only make ecological sense, but it makes economic sense. In 10 EU countries we discovered farm business and income data that shows that this is now a major way of value-adding income to the farm business.

Not only are soils, animals and crops healthier, but also food quality is enhanced and farmgate prices can be higher.

And indeed there is a growing consumer market for these “shorter-chain” products. Covid may not have many “silver linings”, but one is that it has given a significant boost to farmer-based and cooperatively organised box and shorter supply chain schemes; let’s build upon this in the coming months.

Develop a network of (existing and new) demonstration farms and food hubs from which we can share good practice for a more diversified food and farm system.

To progress these farming and rural development innovations, farmers cannot do it on their own. We need the Government to foster these networks, training and advice and place-based forms of innovative practice.

Here we can take a lesson of the relatively recent history of post-war agriculture and rural policy.

Then food security was a major issue, as indeed in a different guise it is now. Then, as now, farming was suffering from a lack of direction and strategic leadership.

And then, as now, we were facing a dependence upon imports of foods at the same time as a weak infrastructure of labour, skills and public stigma of farming being an unattractive sector for the young and career-minded.

We recreated the idea of “the farming ladder”, encouraging social mobility and farming careers; we created “demonstration farms” which celebrated good practice and sustainable forms of production and its training; and we developed a public campaign to enhance the status of food and farming careers in the young.

Now we need to create a networks of demonstration farms and regional training centres across Wales, covering its diverse agro-ecological opportunities.

Engender political support across Wales for food and farming innovation based upon food enhancing food security and expanding quality food access for all.

To activate these transitions, we need to articulate the new and innovative knowledge business of food and farming to our politicians – to encourage them to see it as part of a progressive “green new deal agenda” and as a central part of our obligations in delivering on the Future Generations and Well-being agenda.

But saying this will not be enough. We need to persuade our leaders to see food and farming as a central part of the decarbonised and ecological economy.

This requires new local partnerships and alliances and support for existing good practices in Wales of food co-operatives, short supply chains and the building of new food hubs.

The combination of the current four seismic shifts mentioned above provides the opportunity to relocate those involved in food production, supply and provision with a new concerted energy.

One in which Wales can be a leader, not a laggard.

■ Terry Marsden and Angelina Sanderson Bellamy published A Welsh Food System Fit for Future Generations, a report for WWF Cymru, in March 2020.