‘Rapid transition to regenerative farming’ needed
The Prince of Wales has called for small family farmers across the world to come together in a cooperative movement using sustainable farming methods, and for their plight to be at the centre of environmental action.
Small farmers, in the UK, EU and the world, are facing their biggest upheavals in more than a generation.
Prince Charles urged small farmers to band together to cope with the coming shocks and shift to a low-carbon economy: “There are small farms the world over which could come together in a global cooperative committed to producing food based on high environmental standards … With the skills of ethical entrepreneurs and a determination from the farmers to make it work, I would like to think it could provide a very real and hopeful future.”
Farming is undergoing a “massive transition”, and the needs of family farmers must be taken into account, the prince said.
“To me, it is essential the contribution of the small-scale family farmer is properly recognised – they must be a key part in any fair, inclusive, equitable and just transition to a sustainable future. To do this, we must ensure that family farmers have the tools and the confidence to meet the rapid transition to regenerative farming systems that our planet demands,” he said.
Analysis of farming data has shown that small farmers were already facing an increasingly difficult future, amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“These [small] farmers are some of the most hard-working and innovative small businesses and, in so many ways, we depend on them far more than most of us will ever know,” the prince wrote.
“These [small] farmers are some of the most hard-working and innovative small businesses and, in so many ways, we depend on them far more than most of us will ever know,” the prince wrote.