ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates whether the four nations’ proposals for agricultural policies outlined in Chapter 3 truly are ambitious and forward-thinking – in their objectives and/or how they seek to achieve them – and whether they could strive for more.
The chapter argues that resilience can provide the overarching ambition for a forward-looking agriculture, thereby also acting as a lens with which to evaluate the policies. Resilience applied to agriculture is a multifaceted, complex concept that seeks to develop the adaptive capacity of the system to withstand shocks. It considers the connection between all of the facets – including the farmers, land, society, environment and economy – and how to improve their resilience. In light of the significance of the policies, governance structures and relationships between policymakers must also be resilient – not simply agriculture or the policy content.
As such, a 21st-century, resilient agriculture goes beyond sustainability, beyond the act of farming and also beyond a narrow concept of public goods, to include transformational changes such as social-ecological services, net zero, agroecology and agri-food democracy. Forward-looking strategies require a major transformation of farming practices, societal values and approaches to governance. The chapter considers not only the underpinning objectives of the policies, but also key focus points such as governance approaches and mechanisms, path dependency and the impact on farm diversity. However, despite Brexit providing a chance for transformation, the four nations largely appear to have lost their initial appetite for change.
