JAFSCD peer-reviewed article by Dr. Jonathan Hanson (Queen’s University Belfast), Ciaran Collins (CiCo Consulting), Tiziana O’Hara (Cooperative Alternatives), and Matthew Williams (Jubilee Farm)
In a new JAFSCD article, Community farming in Northern Ireland: Impacts and definitions, authors Jonathan Hanson, Ciaran Collins, Tiziana O’Hara, and Matthew Williams present the findings from their social return on investment (SROI) study of the impacts of nine community farming projects in Northern Ireland, as well as their definitions of the term. Corresponding author Jonathan (Jonny) Hanson can be contacted at j.hanson@qub.ac.uk.
Community farming is part of a broader pattern of civic agriculture, whereby more localized food production and consumption are linked to a wider, and sometimes global, set of economic, social, and environmental factors.
The study highlighted that community farming positively influences social well-being by reducing loneliness, enhancing the use of rural and urban green spaces, promoting the benefits of volunteering, and fostering collaborative project design with stakeholders.
The study’s SROI demonstrated that for every £1 invested in community farming through the Cultivating Community Farming (CCF) project, £3.52 of value was generated.
The study used a focus group to define community farming, for the first time, as “a process of collaborative transformation at the intersection of land, community and enterprise—and of a community farm—a place of collaborative transformation at the intersection of land, community and enterprise.”
KEY OUTCOMES
Community farming and community farm are defined for the first time.
The value, especially social, that this process can create is demonstrated.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLICY AND PRACTICE
The paper highlights the need for policy and funding support, especially for new and emerging projects, to help community farming realize its full potential. Further research should also explore the economic and environmental benefits of community farming over longer time periods, rather than the short, two-year period in this study.
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What is community farming? And how much community—and how much farming—does the process involve? #communityfarming #communityfarm #NorthernIreland #SROI Read the entire @JAFSCD article for free: https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2025.142.007
Photo above: Cultivating Community Farming project members at Tenth Glen Heritage Farms, County Antrim, Northern Ireland; photo provided by the authors.
