Access To Land
In this report, Neus Monllor explores the question of who is going to be the new generation of farmers. Through a comparative study, led in both Ontario (Canada) and Catalunya (Spain), she shows that similar trends are taking place, in both areas, despite geographic and cultural differences, in the way young farmers enter agriculture, and also in their practices and attitudes.
The study leads to identify two different groups entering agriculture: Continuers and Newcomers: the former are those who were born on a family farm, the latter those who don’t have a direct farming background. The author particularly analyses the attitudes and practices of newcomers, which she calls the New Peasantry, according to van der Ploeg theory. This group is entering the sector with new energy and projects: they tend to be more involved in organic farming, direct producers-consumers relations, on-farm multi-activities, etc.
Although we do not really know the quantity flow and survival rate of this emergent group, they are part of the emerging generation of farmers and weight in favour of agroecological and agrosocial approaches to farming.
Monllor Farm entry report_2012
