Prince Charles has called for small-scale family farmers in the UK and across the world to come together in a cooperative movement using sustainable farming methods.
Small farmers in the UK and EU are facing changes with the loss of farm subsidies and new post-Brexit trade deals in the UK along with reforms to the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
“These small farmers are some of the most hard-working and innovative small businesses and, in so many ways, we depend on them far more than most of us will ever know,” said the prince.
The Prince of Wales has been a long standing supporter of sustainable farming, and earlier this year launched Terra Carta, a roadmap to 2030 for businesses to move towards a low-carbon and environmentally sustainable future.
“To me, it is essential the contribution of the small-scale family farmer is properly recognised – they must be a key part in any fair, inclusive, equitable and just transition to a sustainable future, he said.
Small farmers are facing an increasingly difficult future and have been hit hard by Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic. The EU has lost large numbers of livestock farms in particular, with 3.4m disappearing between 2005 and 2016.