English - The Scottish Government has announced a new Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board (ARIOB), established with the intention of guiding Scotland’s post-Brexit agricultural transition.
- The Scottish Government has also launched two new consultations. The first is to help inform future agricultural policy and the replacement of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and the second is intended to help guide policy in supporting access to high quality food and local food systems.
- The Landworkers’ Alliance, the CSA Network UK and the Highland Good Food Partnership have welcomed the new Board and the consultations, but emphasise the need to integrate the views and interests of agroecological and genuinely local producers at every step of the way.
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Island, Mairi Gougeon has said:
“The establishment of the board will help us to make early progress in delivering emissions reductions and I look forward to working with the board members closely to deliver the change and the outcomes urgently required. […] By working together I am confident that we will be able to support Scottish farming to maintain its world leading credentials in an ever-changing environment.”
The Cabinet Secretary’s recent actions follow SNP manifesto commitments to create a board that would represent “all farming sectors and types, to support farmers to produce more of our own food needs sustainably and to farm and croft with nature”.
Additionally, the SNP-Greens coalition has committed to making Scotland a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture and the new Programme for Government, which was launched earlier this week, has promised to seek opportunities to prioritise local and organic produce and bring forward the Good Food Nation Bill.
To deliver on Scotland’s ambitions, the personal appointment to the new ARIOB of Pete Ritchie (from Nourish Scotland and Scottish Environment LINK), Donald MacKinnon (Chair of the Scottish Crofting Federation), Mike Robinson (Co-Chair of Farming 1.5) and Nikki Yoxall (from the Pasture Fed Livestock Association, the Landworkers’ Alliance and NatureScot), and other progressive farmers and stakeholders, should be welcomed.
Miranda Geelhoed, Scotland Policy and Campaigns Coordinator for the Landworkers’ Alliance, – a union of farmers, growers, crofts and foresters – has said:
“We are delighted to see the Scottish Government taking action to deliver important policies on agriculture and food. We welcome the diversity, expertise and geographical spread of members on the new ARIOB and we are looking forward to working with them and the Scottish Government.”
“We do, however, believe that an independent chair would have strengthened a more balanced approach. It is important that previously overlooked stakeholders who are crucial for delivering an agroecological future for Scotland – such as those working in small-scale or community supported horticulture – are given an equal voice and are listened to.”
