This SHERPA Discussion Paper provides a synthesis of rural opportunities and challenges identified in recent publications. The final version will include results of EU funded research projects and statistics for the indicators identified in this document. Guidance on how to conduct the consultation in the Multi-Actor Platforms is provided in a separate document.
• Rural policy responses do not mean only those of rural development policy only. Cohesion and Regional funds and their synergies should be made more explicit beyond their respective policy boundaries • Rural development policy does not mean supporting mainly the agricultural sector and farm incomes but should, equally focus on rural society more broadly, the rural economy and rural environment • A EU long-term vision for rural areas should be based upon the overarching objective of well-being in rural areas.
Common-pool resources and private assets do not have the same effect on agricultural livelihoods. A lack of access to human, financial and social capitals at the household level increases the levels of precarious agricultural employment, such as daily-wage agricultural labour. Households located in communities with greater access to collective natural capital are less likely to be agricultural labourers. Proximity to rural centres and access to financial infrastructures increase the likelihood of being a landless agricultural labourer.
Gather relevant knowledge and opinions that contribute to the formulation of recommendations for future policies relevant to EU rural areas. It will create a science-society-policy interface which provides a hub for knowledge and policy.
• We provide a typology of communities based on their access to common-pool resources • The influence of capitals and climatic shocks on livelihoods is spatially variable • The type of community modifies livelihood opportunities and coping strategies • Climatic shocks drive precarious livelihoods, except in best-connected communities
Delivering new insight into the trade-offs between flooding, sediment and nutrient deposition, agricultural systems and associated livelihood strategies in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta.