Newcomers to farming: towards a new rurality in Europe

Rico, Neus Monllor i; Fuller, Anthony M.

doi:10.5565/rev/dag.376

Cited by 31 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 17 publications

(7 reference statements)

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“…This has broader implications for the expansion of sustainable farming in other countries, as well. Common features of newcomer sustainable farmers everywhere are the relatively small scale of their farms and geographic dispersion [17,26,49], which make them unable to compete with larger conventional farms in terms of production and market power. This implies that supporting the settlement of newcomers in spatially proximate places could contribute to creating stronger networks and partnerships and helping to balance out the isolation they face within the dominant agri-food landscape.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overcoming the Barriers to Entry of Newcomer Sustainable Farmers: Insights from the Emergence of Organic Clusters in Japan

Zollet

Maharjan

2021

Sustainability

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The growing concern for sustainability in agri-food systems and the parallel decrease in the number of people engaged in agriculture, especially in the Global North, is starting to draw attention to new entrant farmers from non-farming backgrounds (“newcomer” farmers). Newcomers, however, especially if interested in sustainable agriculture, face considerable barriers to entry, and their support needs are often not adequately met by conventional agricultural institutions and support structures. Several studies have highlighted the importance of formal and informal farmer-to-farmer networks and communities of practice for newcomers to receive support, but such networks are usually geographically dispersed. Dynamics of spatial clustering of sustainable farmers, on the other hand, have so far received less attention, particularly in relation to their role in supporting the establishment of newcomers. This study examines the barriers to entry faced by newcomer organic farmers in Japan and the relevance of geographically proximate “clusters” of organic farmers to address such barriers. The results highlight the environmental and social factors that can facilitate the formation of organic clusters in the first place, and how spatial proximity facilitates different forms of cooperation among newcomers. The paper concludes by discussing the potential role of clusters in scaling sustainable agri-food practices.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overcoming the Barriers to Entry of Newcomer Sustainable Farmers: Insights from the Emergence of Organic Clusters in Japan

Zollet

Maharjan

2021

Sustainability

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“…In the literature, those entering into the farming sector are usually labelled as newcomers. Newcomers are roughly described as people with or without a family background in agriculture starting a farming business from scratch [3,4]. The efforts to profile newcomers entering into the farming sector are starting to increase, however, they remain insufficient.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How to Foster Rural Sustainability through Farming Workforce Rejuvenation? Looking into Involuntary Newcomers’ Spatial (Im)mobilities

et al. 2021

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This conceptual paper aims to expand the notion of “farming newcomers” in Europe by also including those that we label “involuntary newcomers”, who correspond to the workforce coming unwillingly to farming for reasons associated with spatial (im)mobilities. We fully develop our aim in four steps. Firstly, we present an integrative literature review which describes how the interplay between the key concepts of the sustainable farming framework (i.e., sustained development, networked rural development, and spatial (im)mobilities) tailor the newcomers’ arrival to the farming sector. Secondly, we define involuntary newcomers, describe their profiles and list the barriers to their engagement with sustainable farming. Thirdly, we advance some implications and limitations of our work for mobility research agendas. Fourthly, we conclude with an overview of the main inputs provided by our paper. We contribute to the literature by showing that: (a) newcomers must be defined beyond land ownership; (b) involuntary newcomers are very diverse, due to trends in spatial (im)mobilities; and (c) there is a high risk of the sustainable farming framework failing to meet its ambitions if it continues to ignore involuntary newcomers (and the barriers they encounter) in sustainable forms of agriculture.

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“…Multiple trials show that these alternative models work and continue to work, yet the new comers are not numerous enough. In Europe, Monllor and Fuller (2016) demonstrated that the newcomers are in average 26 years old, with higher education, one half from urban background, the other half from rural one, the proportion of male and female being balanced. They are seeking to develop business models based on pluriativity and multifunctionality.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They are seeking to develop business models based on pluriativity and multifunctionality. The main obstacles they face are firstly access to land, and also access to capital and market (Monllor and Fuller, 2016). Proposals for the rental of residential and operational buildings and associated land are rare.…”

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confidence: 99%

Is an alternative to private property durable in agriculture?

Macombe¹

2021

Economia Agro-Alimentare

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The desire for sustainability calls for new development paths for the agricultural sector. Some suggest creating small to medium size farms, performing agricultural practices that preserve ecosystems, are labour intensive and connected to local markets. New farmers are a necessity in many rural areas, yetthe main obstacle to the settlement of newcomers is access to land. This research suggests an alternative to private property of land, such as experienced by the Foncière Solidaire created by the association «Terre de Liens» in France, which collectively buys land (13,500 shareholders, end of 2019) to lease themto new farmers under long-term basis. The research question is therefore: "Is this alternative to private property of land durable?" Here, durability means the permanence of farms, despite the on-going upheavals. We suggest that the values are the key, and that values leading to everlastingness describe aconception of Justice. To identify whether or not the values describe a conception of Justice in practice, the discourses should be consistent with the six axioms of the Grammar of Justice by Boltanski and Thévenot (1991) when implemented to a Local Common Good (Thévenot, 1993). The whole movement cannot last without the association Terre de Liens being permanent itself. We will highlight that the discourse(official communication) of the Terre de Liens association calls on Justice, being consistent with the six axioms. We  also underpin that the main challenges are the evolution of regulations, and especially the European laws and French annual financial laws, which set the rules for fiscal exonerations and drive agricultural practices. Whatever these evolutions, it is likely that the association would achieve permanence because of the high number of actors (communes searching for farmers, applicants to taking or transferring farms, donors, shareholders) who are federated around its "Fair" raison d'être. Yes, there is a potential for durable alternative to land private property in agriculture.

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Newcomers to farming: towards a new rurality in Europe

Cited by 31 publications

References 17 publications

Overcoming the Barriers to Entry of Newcomer Sustainable Farmers: Insights from the Emergence of Organic Clusters in Japan

Overcoming the Barriers to Entry of Newcomer Sustainable Farmers: Insights from the Emergence of Organic Clusters in Japan

How to Foster Rural Sustainability through Farming Workforce Rejuvenation? Looking into Involuntary Newcomers’ Spatial (Im)mobilities

Is an alternative to private property durable in agriculture?

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