Results of a recent public survey confirm that two-thirds of Northern Ireland consumers believe farmers should get more support.
The work also revealed that members of the public are highly concerned about the future impact of climate change on food harvests.
In addition, 81% of the people surveyed want the safeguarding of affordable, sustainably produced local food as a high priority.
The project, RESIL RISK NI 2023, aimed to capture public perception of climate risks and adaptation in Northern Ireland by asking participants a range of questions on priorities and beliefs.
Jill Montgomery, Northern Ireland Environment Link (NIEL) Rural Resilience coordinator, commented:
“The importance of food and farming is clearly a growing issue for the public after decades of a disconnect.
“And not just what we produce, but how we produce it, and that farmers need support to adapt.
“Food production cannot be just an economic issue. It needs to work with the environment on which we depend, with our local communities and be nutritious.”
Half of the respondents to the survey said they would be prepared to pay more for locally sourced food (52% likely) and a large majority strongly supported reducing dependency on imported goods.
Support for farmers
The survey is part of the wider Rural Resilience Project which has been running since May 2022 led by NIEL.
The project is designed to support the vision for resilient agriculture by providing information to farmers on climate risks and opportunities for their businesses.
It also delivers practical approaches to adjust and prepare, as well as inputting to agri-policy and improving baseline data to inform future research.
NIEL hosted workshops across Northern Ireland with farmers to understand more about their experiences of climate change impacts and their views on building farm business resilience for the future.
The top impact perceived by participant farmers was that of increased rainfall or rainfall intensity on land or crops and increasing difficulty planning ahead, with a smaller proportion observing summer drought and negative impacts on animal health.
Almost 75% viewed the value of nature and the environment as ‘highly important/critical’ for the future of farming.
Half of participants had made changes to enhance the resilience of their farm business that had environmental rewards.
Farmers also highlighted the need for more and consistent information on what step changes would work best in their individual context, and financial incentives to aid the transition, that are designed with farmer input.