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ABSTRACT
The Swedish government accepts in principle that agriculture needs to move from being an activity that contributes to humankind’s excess demand on the planet to become an activity that regenerates ecosystem services. The major tool for development of European agriculture is the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the EU implemented in the member rural development programs (RDP). Swedish farmers are dependent on the subsidies and payments of the RDP yet many are very critical of the program, especially those with animals and semi-natural pastures. A study based on semi-structured interviews with farmers in three districts in Sweden reveals the main reasons for their criticism to be: they feel trapped by regulations, powerless with respect to the controlling agency and lacking control of their finances. The study also identifies factors in the program that hinder the implementation of the sustainability goals of the CAP and RDP. The article recommends the adoption of guiding principles for facilitating transitions toward sustainable agriculture and emerging solutions to the challenges farmers experience.
Acknowledgment
We thank Dr. Magnus Ljung and Prof. Lennart Salomonsson for their early contributions.
Funding
This work was supported by The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) under the research program AgResource.
Notes
1. Axis 2 received almost half of financial resources in the budget for 2007–2013 Rural Development Program in Sweden and of this 77% were assigned towards measures 214/216 (Landsbygdsdepartementet Citation2012).
2. As the RDP for 2014–2020 was severely delayed, the RDP 2007–2013 was still valid during the study .
3. The applications for EPA payments are however sent in every year together with the other parts of the RDP.