Facts:
Project leader
Camilla Eriksson, Researcher, Division of Rural Development, +46 18 67 25 68, camilla.eriksson@slu.se
Project time
August 2015 – April 2018
Exernal funding
The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, MSB
Can we produce food during crises? Vulnerabilities and resilience at farm level in Swedish agriculture
Last changed: 02 December 2019
Sweden has been spared from major crises causing food shortages during the last decades. However, that does not mean that it is impossible that such a crisis could never occur. The rapid restructuring of agriculture during the same time period has resulted in increased specialisation, mechanisation, new high-tech equipment and information technology that has created new vulnerabilities. Knowledge on how we would manage food supplies in times of crises is very limited in Sweden today.
This project will contribute to filling that gap through focusing on what vulnerabilities and what resilience are to be found in Swedish food production.
The following research questions will be answered:
- How does vulnerabilities and resilience differ between production systems, e.g. if the farm is small-scale or large-scale, ecological or conventional, labour intensive or machine intensive?
- How is food production affected by different supply crises, e.g. fuel shortages, electrical faults, delivery of fodder or other inputs?
- How is production of chicken, pig, beef, dairy and breed affected by different supply crises at farms with different production systems?