Family Farming Futures Family Farming
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
FAMILY FARMING FUTURES FARMING FAMILY Family Farming flows of resistance, redesign and resilience redesign and resistance, of flows multifunctionality: to pathways Agrarian Futures Henk Oostindie HENK O HENK O STINDIE Agrarian pathways to multifunctionality: flows of resistance, redesign and resilience Family Farming Futures Agrarian pathways to multifunctionality: flows of resistance, redesign and resilience Henk Oostindie Thesis committee Promotor Prof.Dr J.D. van der Ploeg Professor of Transition Processes in Europe Wageningen University Other members Prof.Dr C. Leeuwis, Wageningen University Dr. K.H. Knickel, SD Innovation Consulting, Frankfurt/Main Prof.Dr T. Marsden, Cardiff University Dr. D. O’Connor, University College Dublin This research was conducted under the auspices of the Wageningen Graduate School of Social Sciences (WASS) Family Farming Futures Agrarian pathways to multifunctionality: flows of resistance, redesign and resilience Henk Oostindie Thesis Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of doctor at the Wageningen University by the authority of the Rector Magnificus Prof. dr M.J. Kropff in the presence of the Thesis Committee appointed by the Academic Board to be defended in public on Friday 20 March at 1.30 p.m. in the Aula Henk Oostindie Family Farming Futures. Agrarian pathways to multifunctionality: flows of resistance, redesign and resilience, 204 pages PhD thesis, Wageningen University, NL 2015 With references, with summaries in English and Dutch ISBN 978-94-6257-229-4 Table of Contents 1. General Introduction 8 1.1 Introduction 10 1.2 Resistance 10 1.3 Redesign 13 1.4 Resilience 22 1.5 Specific interrelations between the past, present and future of 25 farming 1.6 Thesis Structure 27 2. Definitions, references and interpretations of the 30 concept of multifunctionality in The Netherlands 2.1 Introduction 34 2.2 Historical context 34 2.3 Building upon interrelated conceptions of agriculture 36 2.4 Follow-up: an explorative study by the national research institutions 37 2.5 Negative externalities of the agricultural sector 39 2.6 Changing land property rights 41 2.7 MFA as the basis for rural development 42 2.8 Green services 47 2.9 Debating multifunctional agriculture: desirability and potential 48 2.10 Conclusion 52 3. Understanding farm-level multifunctionality: multiple 54 pathways and the resilience of family-based farming 3.1 Introduction 58 3.2 Pluri-active farm-enterprises 58 3.3 Diversified farms and rural SME’s 60 3.4 Specialized farms (family-based and non-family based) 63 3.5 Traditional part-time farms and subsistence farms 64 3.6 Multiple pathways 64 3.7 Background and characteristics of empirical research 66 3.8 General picture of multifunctional farm-enterprises in the 67 Netherlands 3.8.1 Broad spectrum of drivers 67 3.8.2 Combinations of new activities 68 3.8.3 Significant and growing contribution to total farm-family income 68 in time 3.8.4 Supportive to further agricultural development 68 3.8.5 Predominantly cautious farm investment attitudes 69 3.8.6 Multifunctionality: guiding the future 69 3.9 Factors of importance for future farm-development 70 3.10 Different farm-level pathways 70 3.10.1 Recent-weaker 70 3.10.2 Longer-weaker 71 3.10.3 Longer-stronger 72 3.10.4 Recent-stronger 73 3.11 Understanding farm-level multifunctionality dynamics 74 3.12 Conclusions 76 4. European governance of agri-environmental services: 82 institutional voids, interfaces and self-regulation challenges 4.1 Introduction 86 4.2 Agri-environmental policy dynamics in the EU 87 4.3 Agri-environmental governance in the Netherlands 89 4.4 Interfaces with EU’s Rural Development Program 92 4.4.1 Individual contract partners 92 4.4.2 Rigidity of contract periods 93 4.4.3 Alternative remuneration systems 93 4.5 National-provincial policy interfaces 94 4.6 Conclusions 98 5. The central role of nested markets in European rural 100 development 5.1 Introduction 104 5.2 Rural development practices in Europe 105 5.3 The rise of new, ‘nested’ markets as a key feature of rural 112 development processes in Europe 5.4 New markets for distinctive products and services 114 5.5 Some notes on economic impact 117 5.6 Specific performances 118 5.7 Connecting different markets: the role of multifunctionality 120 5.8 Jumping to the territorial level 121 5.9 Linking different territories 122 5.10 Markets for agro-environmental services 122 5.11 Conclusion 125 6. The role of agriculture in rural place-making: 128 differentiating rural web dynamics 6.1 Introduction 132 6.2 Rural web frictions and tensions in Rivierengebied 137 6.3 Emerging counter structure 141 6.4 The unfolding rural web in Laag-Holland 143 6.5 Conclusions 149 7. Prospects for agrarian pathways to multifunctionality 152 in the Netherlands 7.1 introduction 154 7.2 Towards multifunctional mirror images for agro-industrial 158 ‘mega-stables’ 7.3 Towards sustainable food planning 160 7.4 Towards more inclusive assessment methods 161 7.5 Towards substantial CAP reform 162 7.6 Towards longer term policy commitment 166 7.7 Other redesign challenges 167 7.8 Role of rural sociology 169 References 174 Summary 194 Samenvatting 198 Curriculum Vitae 202 Acknowledgements 203 General introduction 6 / FAMILy FARMING Futures 1 1· general introduction / 9 1.1 Introduction This thesis builds upon almost three decades of research engagement as a rural sociologist. During this period I studied agricultural and rural processes of change with a particular interest in family-farms’ responses to modernisation and globalisa- tion forces. This particular interest covered a wide variety of research issues such as agri-environmental concerns, new rural development activities, the socio-economic impact of these new activities at different scale levels, sustainable food production, new forms of farmer-led cooperation and rural policy design and delivery systems. Their interlinkages with on-going European policy and scientific debate about agri- culture’s multifunctionality may be perceived as the common denominator of these different research activities. This thesis builds upon this broad research experience in a national, as well as European, setting and differs as such from more convention- al approaches that start from a research question that subsequently is responded to. Instead, it consists of a presentation, interpretation and re-interpretation of earlier research work and hopes to contribute to a more profound theoretical un- derstanding of agriculture’s multifunctionality by underpinning its dynamic nature, recognizing its heterogeneity and acknowledging its significance for the future of family-based farming and rurality. Together these have been synthesized into the key argument of this thesis: agrarian pathways to multifunctionality are characterized, shaped and propelled by flows of resistance, redesign and resilience.The next sec- tions will briefly introduce the central notions of this key argument and the specific ways this will be further theorized and elaborated on in forthcoming chapters. 1.2 Resistance In his wider contemplations on contemporary social ordering processes Boutellier (2011) concludes that current network society is imbued with dissatisfaction and resistance, often organised along primary identities such as religion, ethnicity and nationality. More generally he associates societal dissatisfaction and resistance with the ambivalences of the network society in terms of expansion (e.g. the World Wide Web) versus shrinking (e.g. peer groups), colonisation of the private - versus the privatisation of public domains and social inclusion versus exclusion mechanisms. As noticed, these ambivalences do not allow for overly optimistic expectations or cul- tural pessimism (ibid: 123). In relation to an appropriate understanding of agricultural development, the rel- evance of resistance is especially underlined in peasant studies. Scott (1984) beau- tifully illustrates how everyday‘ forms of resistance’ are omnipresent in peasant communities, with the purpose to undermine the effectiveness of domination by superordinates in harsh socio-political conditions, and underlines how peasants’ agency may often fall into the category of more covert expressions of resistance. Kerkvliet (2009) emphasizes how these expressions of ‘everyday politics’,low pro- file resistance not always intended as a political act by involved actors, in time may 10 / FAMILy FARMING Futures · 1 change the political horizon of rural landscapes. O’Brien (1996) introduces the no- tion ‘rightful resistance’ to stress that peasants actively use persuasive normative language to frame their claims and to deploy existing statuses and commitments when levelling charges against and exploiting divisions among the powerful. Hence, he concludes that ‘where Scott’s everyday forms of resistance were quiet, disguised and anonymous, rightful resistance is noisy, public and open’ (O’Brien, 2013). This relevance of more or less overt and intentional farmer-led resistance appears to different degrees in a wide variety of theoretical strands on agriculture’s multifunc- tionality (Carol et al., 2008; Haydinski et al., 2008; Huylenbroeck et al., 2003; Knickel et al., 2004; O’Connor and Dunne, 2009; Noe et al., 2008). This thesis will build especially on rural scholars that associate agriculture’s multifunctionality with his- torically rooted resistance of peasant modes of production systems (see e.g. Ploeg, 2013). First, it enables an understanding of agricultural labour processes as conver- sions of resources