High nature value farming: environmental practices for rural sustainability - Transition Pathways towards Sustainability in Agriculture: Case Studies from Europe - page 98

traditional agri-food products. There is general consensus amongst stakeholders about the
new role of agriculture and the need to shift towards more sustainable development of
industry and rural areas (Brinks and de Kool, 2006).
This new role has been reflected in changes in European agricultural policy over the
last two decades, which have been broadly characterized as a shift from productivism to
post-productivism (Ward et al. , 2008). The academic literature provides differing
interpretations of this development; there is no commonly agreed definition of post-
productivist food regimes and their driving factors are difficult to conceptualize (Wilson,
2001). According to Gundelach (2005), the use of the term 'post-productivism' seems to
relate to a “combination of the emergence of the EU CAP and a general (ideological) wish
for alternatives to industrialised farming” (Gundelach, 2005:248). The transition to a post-
productivist agricultural regime is also defined “as a struggle between agricultural and
environmental interests, with the central axis of an environmental critique of modern
intensive farming” (Ward et al. , 2008:119). Wilson and Rigg (2003) claim that the
commonalities between different visions for the transition from productivism to post -
productivism are the exogenous drivers of agricultural change. They highlight six
interconnected indicators of post-productivism: policy change; organic farming; counter-
urbanization; the inclusion of environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) at
the core of policy-making; the consumption of the countryside; and on-farm diversification
activities.
As discussed in Sutherland et.al. , and Darnhofer (both this volume), transition theory
sheds light on sustainability as an ongoing process: it is a normative goal and demonstrates
potential for radical change, either in production systems, policies, or in consumer
behaviour and community awareness, depending on regional characteristics including
institutions, regulations, negotiations, social norms, values and consents. Therefore,
sustainability in farming is not only a goal to be achieved but also a process (Buttel, 2006;
Marques et al. , 2012; Darnhofer, this volume). In line with this notion, transitions towards
HNVF are approached in this chapter as an ongoing interactive process balancing three
dimensions: economic, social and environmental.
The HNVF concept has the potential to become a key component of the European
model of agriculture through its post-productivist and multifunctional characteristics, its
contribution to the diversity of rural areas and through the conservation of biodiversity.
HNV areas are acknowledged in the formulation of the new post-2013 CAP: they appear as
part of the greening requirements as well as within new rural development tools focusing
on environmental quality. HNVF has been developed across Europe and has shown
promising results in terms of the environment and for farm economics, with significant
reductions in levels of inputs (Brinks and de Kool, 2006).
In this chapter, HNVF is approached from the multi-level perspective (MLP) of
transition theory (Darnhofer, this volume) and in light of the notion of multifunctional
agriculture, despite the broad and divergent approaches to the latter in academic and policy
debates (Wilson, 2008). The three main concepts of HNVF, MLP and multifunctionality
are outlined in the second section. Transition processes have been analysed at the regional
level in three European countries, through three case study areas in Bulgaria, France and
Portugal. The third section has two functions. First, we describe the three case studies
which form the chapter's empirical focus. Second, we elaborate on the adaptation of
farming practices as transition and as anchoring processes which occurred in three
dimensions: technological, social and institutional. We conclude by discussing the