Landscape recovery projects embody good practice in agroecology
This action area is focused on ensuring that land-based projects need to be underpinned by best practice in agroecology in order to be effective and transformative.
However, the current situation sees farmers navigating a very complex system sometimes without trustworthy and knowledgeable ambassadors to guide them. At the moment, it can be very hard for farmers to find out what the different options are, how to finance these and what approaches would work best in the unique environment of their farm. It was recognised that NRFC could have a real role as trusted intermediaries in collating reliable evidence and reaching out to the wider farming community to help them understand more about agroecology and the benefits to this approach.
To address these challenges, our strategy outlines the following steps:
Our goal: Landscape recovery projects embody good practice in agroecology.
Desired outcomes:
- Evidence base, farm advice, and peer to peer learning is accessible to all farmers.
- Agroecological methods and permaculture design training is widely available in agricultural colleges and beyond.
Example activities that were identified as supporting these immediate outcomes – and which should therefore be prioritised for funding – are as follows:
- Supporting the setup of more training opportunities by, for example, coordinating the offerings of members of the consortium.
- Sharing examples and good practice to establish an evidence base.
- Campaigning to change the curriculum for major agricultural colleges (to include more agroecology, permaculture, etc.)