Family farming under pressure: reassessing options for liveability and permanence - An overview
Building sustainable future of rural areas requires more sustainable farming systems with better working conditions for farmers. Liveability is defined as the characteristics of the systems which satisfy farmers' expectations with respect to farming and relations with family and other activities. Farmers expectations of farming conditions are diverse, and deal with many issues: income, work load, options for vacations, nature of work, physical work, recognition by society, usefulness feeling etc. Until recently, farming systems appeared to be fairly stable entities, both in time and space, characterised by continuity and based on a steady set of productive and cultural activities. A range of societal changes are causing tensions which are exacerbated by the uncertainties stemming from globalization and demographic transitions. Farming systems are affected by these developments just like other elements of society. New land use and production schemes are appearing. In this workshop, we address some of the social impacts caused by these shifts, with a special focus on work conditions and on continuity of farming. We deal with methods to analyse liveability and changes in farming systems, we ask how to improve farming systems to fulfil work duration and work patterns expectations, we get insights about integration of marginal people, job quality, interests for community, conditions and consequences of ending farm activities, etc.