ABSTRACT
Agricultural diversification is pivotal to European Union (EU) efforts to recast agricultural goals for the twenty-first century. This chapter examines on-farm diversification of agricultural businesses in the context of recent change in the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Specifically, we consider the evidence for the role of networks in the initiation and fulfilment of diversification objectives. We evaluate the impacts of this process on agricultural businesses, territories and national public policies for the rural by drawing upon extensive empirical materials collected in England by the authors as part of the European Union-funded project Innovation, Diversification and European Agricultural Situations (IDEAS) of 1999-2003.
