Green Care: A Conceptual Framework - Frisk i naturen

It is generally accepted by many that farmers and other land managers
should be recognised or paid for the public services they produce
(Sutherland, 2004) and although the new combination of agrienvironmental
schemes in England (Defra, 2007) supports this to a certain
extent, on the whole mainstream discussions of multifunctionality in
agriculture (and forestry) have hitherto neglected the health and the social
values of activities associated with nature (Nilsson et al, 2007).
Green care farming however, can be seen as an example of multifunctional
agriculture and interestingly many of the care farmers in Europe and
the UK are the same farmers who are also involved in environmental
conservation, leisure and educational activities (Hassink and van Dijk,
2006).
It is worth noting the difference between multifunctionality in agriculture
and on-farm diversification. The Organization of Economic and
Cooperation Development (OECD), states that multifunctionality refers
to the fact that the economic activity (in this case, farming) may have
multiple outputs (agricultural production, healthcare, landscape aesthetics
etc) and, by virtue of this, may contribute to several societal objectives
at once (OECD, 2008a). Diversification on the other hand, refers to the
expansion of an existing firm (the agricultural enterprise) into production
activities in different economic sectors (OECD, 2008b; Nilsson et al, 2007)
(i.e. Bed and Breakfast, caravan storage, haulage, renting out land for nonagricultural
purposes and so on).
It does appear that there may be good prospects for further enhancing
agriculture’s multifunctionality in a coordinated way that builds on past
experiences (Dobbs and Pretty, 2004). Utilising the capacity of health
services from farming and agricultural land can offer another example of
the potential for multifunctionality in agriculture. Care farming is therefore
part of a growing recognition that land is multifunctional, providing a
range of environmental and social goods and services. Green care on farms
can also be seen as a way to reconnect people to the land, and to the food
produced by domestic farming.
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