Evidence from the James Hutton Institute, funded by SEFARI Gateway and FFCC, points to the important role of agroecology in Scotland's current agricultural practice, and the huge potential for sector-wide change to deliver Scottish policy on climate, nature, health, and rural support.
To enable the transition to agroecology across the Scottish food system, the research identified that farmers, crofters, growers and land managers need improved support in three key areas:
We are currently working in collaboration to identify practical and radical solutions to these gaps. We are also working to create the conditions for the Scottish Government to propose and implement the progressive legislation required to support a just transition to agroecology by 2030.
Read our 'Agroecology in Scotland' briefing here and find out more about FFCC's work on agroecology here.
FFCC Scotland is delighted to be working in partnership to support a new SEFARI Fellowship research team at SRUC/SAC focusing on "Quantifying 'Ag of the middle' in the North Highlands of Scotland".
In a joint project between SEFARI Gateway, FFCC, North Highlands Initiative, Scottish Crofting Federation and Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society, the research will evaluate the ways that crofts and small-to-medium sized farms and their markets can become more resilient through playing to their strengths. This could include increasing their food outputs or the quality of their produce, finding economies of scope and scale, and capitalising on routes to local and regional markets.
In 2022, Scotland passed the Good Food Nation Act, a landmark piece of legislation that aims to align food with Scotland’s social, environmental, economic and health goals. 2024 will see the Scottish Government draft and consult on the first national Good Food Nation plan while the new Human Rights Act will bring the right to food into Scots law.
It’s a hugely exciting time for Scottish food policy and plans at FFCC are already underway to build The Food Conversation in Scotland as part of our rollout across the UK.
FFCC Scotland is working with partners to collate insights and evidence from Scotland’s approach to multifunctional land use decision processes, particularly Scotland’s decade old Land Use Strategy (LUS) and evolving Regional Land Use Partnerships (RLUPs.)
This will feed into our ongoing discussions about land use decision-making across all four UK nations and the Republic of Ireland.
The first report from FFCC Scotland, A Scotland Field Guide for the Future, gathered stories from people and organisations making real changes on the ground, and showed how government, businesses, groups and citizens are working together to improve the environment and the public’s health and wellbeing.
FFCC Scotland has engaged with partners and stakeholders to convene collective leadership around important issues in Scotland, following the publication of A Scottish Field Guide for the Future. Through this process, we identified four priority work areas for FFCC Scotland, which we continue to develop.
Across Scotland, citizens are taking action. Read their stories to find out how they are making change, and what government and business can do to support them.
FFCC Scotland works to convene collective leadership around important issues in Scotland, resourcing communities to take radical and practical action, and convening leadership across all parts of the system, from farmers to activists, businesses to government, academics to practitioners, to catalyse change.
FFCC Scotland's work programme is shaped by listening to a cross-sectoral voluntary leadership group, convened to ensure our work is relevant and responsive.
