My research project looked at the benefits of care farming to farmers, to the local community and to the rural economy. The aim was to examine existing care farms overseas in order to identify best practice that might be beneficial to family farmers in the UK who might be considering setting up a care farm. These practices may also prove useful to existing UK care farmers.
The project also identified four perceived barriers to the establishment of care farms as described by members of the UK farming community. These areas were: health and safety, built environments (the infrastructure of the care farm including any additions or adaptations), training and securing clients. The research interviews invited overseas participants to share their thoughts on these themes and asked them whether these issues had been of similar concern to them, and if so, what measures did they take to address them.
I noticed that regardless of the location or country context, every overseas participant confirmed that they had faced the same issues as the UK participants, although they may have tackled them in slightly different ways.
Health and Safety was the most commonly expressed concern and training for prospective care farmers was the second most commonly expressed concern.
My Churchill Fellowship Report is shortly to be published and I look forward to sharing the full details of the research, findings and recommendations with you.
Photography reproduced by kind permission of Hopewell USA
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