Socio-economic aspects of local and national organic farming markets
This two-year Defra funded project explored the opportunities and barriers to increasing organic production from farms in England and Wales and considered the implications for rural development. The project, which was led by the Centre for Rural Policy Research at Exeter University, also appraised the extent to which organic farm businesses and associated food chains meet public expectations of organic food. As a final stage in the project, a policy forum to discuss the research findings (alongside another project also assessing organic marketing chains) was held in Wellesbourne in February 2009. This involved a range of invited stakeholders from the organic sector, academia and policy circles and was a very successful and informative day. The CCRI component of the project was led by Brian Ilbery and involved Damian Maye, Paul Courtney, James Kirwan, Matt Reed and Carol Kambites. A full draft report was submitted to Defra by the Centre for Rural Policy Research on behalf of the project team at the end of April 2009.
