Landworkers’ Alliance: Recommendations for Post-Brexit Agricultural Policy in UK

UK currently produces less than 60% of the food it consumes. It relies on the EU for nearly 30% of its food imports and hold only 3-5 days of food supplies in reserve. Simultaneously, UK is also moving towards highly mechanized corporate farms as family farms are abandoned. It has lost 33,500 commercial holdings between 2005 and 2015, more than 9 farms a day.

Post-Brexit increases in the price of imports, shortages of farm labour and market volatility are likely to further undermine the national food security. Yet, successive governments have pursued policies that have led to farm consolidation, a reduction in agricultural jobs, and increased rural-urban migration. 

It is in this context that the Landworkers’ Alliance (LWA) – a union of small scale ecological producers and traditional family farmers – have put forth a set of recommendations for a Post-Brexit agricultural policy. 

The full report is available for download here.