Presentation given by Professor Janet Dwyer at ‘The Rural Hub Partnership Rural & Farming Network Forum’ on 26 November 2014. This forum explored the topic of ‘How can we champion the rural economy in Herefordshire’

1. Meeting challenges, balancing
needs : sustainable rural development
and the growth agenda
Janet Dwyer, CCRI

2. Food
Biodiversity
Habitats Economic
Viability
Climate Change
Resource-
management
Bioeenergy
Biomass
Supply Chain
Integration
Europe: Rural Challenges and
Opportunities (thanks to Martin Scheele, DG Agri,
European Commission)

3. Local Challenges
• Multiple demands, limited resources
• Rural issues – services, transport, quality of life
(opportunities for young people, support for elderly /
childcare), business training/start-up support
• Conflicting interests – migrant labour, industrial
agriculture, protecting environmental quality,
generating energy
• Who makes the decisions, who has the resources?

4. Funding and planning
Growth agenda – recession-driven (reducing
national debt); what does it mean for Hereford?
“Funding for jobs and income generation”
BUT
Use it wisely = long-term, sustainable, resilient (e.g.
plan for climate change)
Respect what makes Herefordshire special, but
don’t constrain local initiative

5. Growth and jobs
Direct – project
funds jobs,
grows a
business
Indirect – project
funds services,
infrastructure,
research, to help
grow a business or
sector
Induced – project
funds the wider
environment, to
improve quality of
life, attractiveness,
resilience = a
stimulus to growth
and jobs
Climate for
growth
Factors for
growth
Growth

6. Climate change: future
scenarios…
4 degree
temperature
increase -
Longer season,
faster crop growth,
higher/drier yields
Grow more
arable (wheat,
rape)
Switch to more
southern / high-
value crops
Increase in pest
and disease
outbreaks
decreased
summer rain,
more winter
storms
Switch to more
resilient (drought
tolerant, robust over
winter) crops
Pressure for more
high-ground housing
development,
infrastructure,
industry?
more
flooding in
valleys
Grazing stock
relatively more
difficult/low
return?
Need for
renewable
energy
Grow and harvest
more trees – SRC,
woods

7. USPs / local assets
• Low(er) housing costs, historic features
• Diverse landscapes and farming systems – wide
range of produce
• High environmental quality for water, landscape,
woodland
• Border culture, meeting place
Local Issues
• Low(er) wages, few industries, lower skills
• Dispersed settlement – high transport costs,
isolation
• Low visibility to e.g. tourism

8. Successful farms: different
tactics
• Weak correlation between profitability and
scale in many sectors (e.g. Dairy, grazing livestock,
high-end fruit & veg)
• Under uncertainty, economies of scope give
resilience, outputs cross-subsidise one another, better
use of labour / fixed costs
• If selling direct / local, a more diverse offer
may be more attractive (online, also).
• Need to recognise varied land capability,
broader business options

9. • 450 in the UK. 75% are
held monthly
• Av. No. consumers
1000-3000
Local Food: Farmers’ markets
• Total turnover £166 million; average c.£300-500/stall.

10. E-S-E multipliers – seeing the
connections
Food production
Visitor
accommodation
Village shop
Local transport /
access
Opportunities for
young people,
women
Care and stimulation for
elderly / children /
disadvantaged groups
Events, culture and
traditions
Marketing and promotion
Standard links
New ideas
Skills and
training
Nature places
Growth and jobs can be all kinds, many places

11. New rural connections?
• Health and welfare – needs, potentials,
sources of match funding or support in kind:
– Care farming, rural retreats / spas, health
walks, care in the community, respite and rehab
• Education – for skills and training but also
research / info resources
– Student placements & projects, monitoring and
evaluation: lots of scope for help ‘in kind’:
measuring, analysing, reporting, facilitation

12. Let Nature Feed Your Senses
- rich experiences for
disadvantaged /excluded
groups
Pontbren; Marlborough Downs
– farmer-group-led
environmental action,
business & community spin-offs
New partners, new
directions…

13. Examples of ‘triple bottom
line’ business success
• Direct sales, local sourcing – dairy,
vegetables, flour / milling, woodfuels
• Community shops
• Soil management groups, ‘min-tillers’,
grass-fed livestock groups
• Care farms UK – delivering health
services
• The ‘Agriscôp’ / ‘hub’ experience –
farmer-led learning for diversification /
production
• Retailer / processor partnerships:
e.g.Waitrose and LEAF; Bulmers?
Econ Env’t Social
√ √ Some
√ Some √
√ √ ?
√
(non-
food)
Often √
√ Not
yet
√
√ √ √

14. Building local capacity
• Whom do you need? – think core actors, key
sources of expertise – external support, wider
community networks / outlets
• Fostering connections – support and extend
existing networks; events; advice; give
opportunities to reflect (in the minibus!)
• Investing, professionalising– fund learning
What do you have, what do you need? – then
fund changes
• Mark progress, tell stories – clarify
obligations, keep records, tell people what you
achieve, get others to help you, have fun!
THANKS! - jdwyer@glos.ac.uk