The ‘SMART’ way of assessing the sustainability of English and Welsh farms.

SUMMARY

The project represents a replication of a study carried out in Hungary earlier this year. In the UK we assessed 21 different farming systems, mostly productive enterprises. The assessments entailed both, an in-depth interview with the farm manager and a farm walk. Farm performance was assessed holistically taking into account indicators related to ecologic, economic and social sustainability on farms ranging from smallholdings to larger arable systems. They were located in England (London, Midlands, East Anglia and South West) and Wales (South and Mid Wales). Data analysis is still ongoing but from a first look at it we find that small-scale alternative (organic or permaculture) farms tend to score better within many dimensions of sustainability as opposed to conventional producers; farms committed to Permaculture principles tend to attain the highest scores. The methodology still has to be reviewed in terms of its explanatory power. However, the entire project seems to us like a long-awaited pioneering start on putting figures to Permaculture's potential benefits and achievements using an integrated peer-reviewed assessment tool.