Managing food supply: strategies to control the level and nature of

productionCommon Agricultural Policy (CAP)

The CAP now has three main aims:• viable food production • sustainable management of natural resources • climate action and balanced development of the

EU's territory

The CAP today

The most important change to CAP payments was linked to conservation measures and stewardship.

Strategies to reduce food production

Stewardship is about taking responsible care for the environment, based on the belief that we don’t own resources, but manage them for future generations.

Natural England

In 2006, DEFRA (Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) set up Natural England to work with farmers and landowners. It aims to deliver four strategic outcomes:• A healthy and natural environment• Enjoyment of the natural environment• Sustainable use of the natural environment• A secure environmental future

• Environmental Stewardship is an agri-environment scheme in England.

• It provides funding to farmers and land managers to improve the natural beauty and diversity of the countryside.

• Subsidies are linked to environmentally friendly farming practices, rather than production.

Environmental Stewardship

• Conserve wildlife (biodiversity)

• Maintain and enhance landscape quality and character

• Protect the historic environment and natural resources

• Promote public access and understanding of the countryside

• Protect natural resources• Conserve traditional livestock

and crops

The aims of Environmental Stewardship

Farmers who gain HLS grants have completed initiatives such as:• Providing ‘buffer zones’

around fields• Maintaining ponds and

hedgerows• Restoring grasslands or

wetlands

How does it work?

1. Entry level2. Organic entry level3. Higher level

stewardship

There are different levels of stewardship and each one comes with a different grant.

Read the Environment Stewardship case study sheets and outline the strategies that the farmers have put in

place to achieve each level.

Activity: Stewardship strategies

EXAM QUESTION!

Prep