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Presentation held at the community events in Moskosel and Arvidsjaur, Norrbotten (January 23rd, 2018)

Presentation · January 2018

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.24148.91520

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1 author: Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Nordic inputs to the EU Green Paper on Territorial Cohesion View project Farming futures in small communities of Northern Sweden and South Australia View project Alexandre Dubois Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

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What role for farming in future community development?

Alexandre Dubois Moskosel & Arvidsjaur seminars Nov 23rd, 2017

Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences www.slu.se

How agriculture-community linkages evolve in rural regions on climatic borderlines

Climate change, new production technologies, urbanisation and increased interest in food security and ‘regional cuisine’ are changing the prospects for farming in remote rural areas. Rural restructuring has led to a consolidation of the farming sector towards fewer and larger farm holdings. Small holdings diversify and value-add and are increasingly engaging in direct marketing

• relations. This engagement has been vital

for the resilience of small rural centres. Agriculture is still a critical activity in the countryside lying at the crossroads

• f

multiple rural development goals such as multifunctionality, biodiversity preservation and cultural heritage conservation The project will especially seek to identify, in interaction with local stakeholders, how new agricultural practices contribute to sustainable community development. Farmers’ markets, box schemes or place- branded produce

• ffer

new

• utlets

for smaller producers to generate revenue streams.

The study is a comparative analysis of the case study regions of Western Lapland in North Sweden and Mid North South Australia (Source: Carson et al., 2017)

SUMMARY

FARMING FUTURES IN SMALL COMMUNITIES OF NORTHERN SWEDEN AND SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Pr Dean Carson Charles Darwin Uni. (AUS) ARCUM, Umeå Uni. (SWE) Dean.Carson@cdu.edu.au Dr Alexandre Dubois SLU, Uppsala (SWE) alexandre.dubois@slu.se

2018-2020

Investigate how changing local climatic conditions and urbanisation affect the reconfiguration

• f

agriculture-community linkages (ACL) in small communities that are located on critical climatic ‘lines’. The project is a comparative analysis of two cases

• f

‘borderline’ regions in Sweden (Western Lapland) and Australia (Mid North). The project will use a mixed method approach: (1) quantitative analysis

• f

agricultural, demographic and economic historical data, (2) compilation and analysis of community survey data backed up by in-depth interviews providing us with local relational data (3) a community-based foresight exercise identify how future prospects for local agriculture may contribute to sustainable community development. AIM METHOD

Western Lapland Key features Mid North Forestry Staples industry Pastoralism Dairy Main produce Wool Agri-environmental, multifunctional agriculture Rural policy context Competitive productivism, export-oriented Inland thinning out, growing urban coast Demography Rural depopulation in the

• uter margins of Adelaide

More precipitations Expected climate change Drier

What we know

• 1. a reduction in the total number of farms;
• 2. an increase in the average farm size;
• 3. a decrease in the number of small farms;
• 4. an increase in the number of large farms;

and, possibly,

• 5. a concentration of land among large

farms. (Van der Ploeg, 2017) This happens everywhere across Europe

5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 1981 1991 2001 2011 2021

FARMS BY SIZE IN SWEDEN

2,1-5,0 ha 5,1-10,0 ha 10,1-20,0 ha 20,1-30,0 ha 30,1-50,0 ha 50,1-100,0 ha 100,1+ ha

What we want to know

Understand the diversity of farm development trajectories

– Bigger farms (economies of scale) – Local quality food niches (low cost, high added- value) – Diversified businesses into multiple sectors – non-farming occupations in farming households

Critical factors in Western Lapland

– Availability of arable land + short season – Small local market for quality food – High transportation costs for transporting inputs (e.g. foder) and food products

Large farms may also disappear and small farms also appear and develop

(Van der Ploeg, 2017)

Key trends

• 100

100 200 300 400 500 600 1981 1991 2001 2011 2021

FARMS IN WESTERN LAPPLAND

2,1-5,0 ha 5,1-10,0 ha 10,1-20,0 ha 20,1-30,0 ha 30,1-50,0 ha 50,1-100,0 ha 100,1+ ha 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 Företagare Maka/Sambo Familjemedlemmar

Occupations in farming households in Western Lapland

Nej Ja, som bisyssla Ja, som huvudsyssla

Participation of farms in other activities

(Kombinationsverksamhet)

• Lowest proportion are in Västerbotten

and Norrbotten (below 40%)

• The larger the farms, the more common

diversification is.

– Large farms -> contracting (entreprenad)

• ”value-adding and marketing of farm

products” significant for farms <2ha

– Overall increased by 114% in Västerbotten

År Annan entreprenad Jordbruksentrepr enad Total entreprenad Gårdsförädl ing Träförädli ng Förnybar energi Hantve rk Övri gt Turis m Vattenbr uk Utbildni ng Föret ag 2016 48 38 . 30 11 11 38 23 28

• 22

400 2010 41 16 . 21 11 5 11 16 21

• .

397

Source: SCB strukturundersökning

SIDE ACTIVITIES IN WESTERN LAPLAND

New economic models for small-scale farming

Short Food Supply Chains

– Reduce distance between where food is produced and consumed – ‘thickening’ of producer-consumer relations – No intermediary – Greater autonomy – Multiple contact interfaces – Retain higher profit margin

But

– Depends on external factors (broadband, roads…) – Requires acquiring new skills and crafts

Farmers’ Market

The routinisation of producer-consumer interactions fosters the introduction of new places and moments which create new mobilities around how food is marketed and sold. Examples found are seasonal markets, farm shops, at-door box deliveries or ‘happenings’ at restaurants or boutiques. Unlike the participation at FM, producers have more leverage in influencing if and how they wish to interact face-to-face with consumers. Interactions with customers for marketing and ordering of food products takes place through ‘remote’ communication means, such as emails, social media and webshops. Face-to-face interactions are not necessary for organizing the transaction as it is often remotely organized days

• r weeks prior to the actual delivery of the products.

M O B I L I T I E S U B I Q U I T I E S

Regular presence at the FM provides opportunities to maintain contact with returning loyal customers and recruit new ones

Conclusions

• Building on agro-ecology: low-cost, high quality and value-adding farming

– New competences in food processing, marketing, labelling – Requires engagement of other local food actors: abattoirs, restaurants, local authorities, local food retailers – Find new markets giving higher profit margin. Ex: saluhall, delicatessen boutique, cafés

• Small scale, wide range farming

– Farming households contribute with stable workforce in other sectors of the local economy – Values-based food systems: create new values around landscape & animals – Development of farm gate shops create a more lively countryside

• Social media is a powerful tool for small-scale farmers

– free, outreach to multiple circles of social networks for recruiting local customers – Coordinate the transaction to solve the transaction and logistics issue

Thank you!

More info on our project ->

alexandre.dubois@slu.se

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