15/01/09

Growth Of Care Farming Highlighted At Seminar

There could be a major and rapid growth in care farming if the UK follows the lead of other European countries, delegates at a care farming seminar were told.

The East Anglian seminar, titled 'Is the Future Care Farming?' was attended by more than 100 people, including farmers and representatives from the health and social care sectors.

They heard that many European countries have seen a rapid development of farmers diversifying into care farming, with the Netherlands topping the league with 1,000 operations. If the UK followed the lead of the Netherlands over the next 10 years, then hundreds of care farms could be set up.

Doeke Dobma, of the National Care Farming Initiative practitioners group, said that there had been a big increase in the number of care farms in the Netherlands, which had risen from 75 in 1998 to 1,000 in 2008. Such growth has been a result of declining incomes and especially in the dairy sector. In addition, the Dutch government supported social inclusion strategies and individualised budgets from the health and social care sector.

Jon Dover, of West Midlands Care Farming, said care farming was a much more cost-effective alternative as part of the criminal justice system, education, health and social care: "Care farming is about connecting people with nature, and when people come on the care farm something magical happens".

Rachel Hine, of the University of Essex and a member of the NCFI(UK) steering group, outlined the benefits to physical and mental well-being that care farming offered. But she warned that more research and drive from the government was needed to support potential care farmers as the concept grew in the UK.

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