The role of livestock in food system resilience in remote, upland regions

该提案将研究英格兰北部和苏格兰高地地区的肉牛和肉羊农民如何提高他们对环境、经济和社会变化的适应能力，以及他们提高适应能力的行动将对粮食供应、自然资源和社会产生什么影响。高地占苏格兰的70%，威尔士的60%，北爱尔兰的40%，英格兰的15%。因此，在整个英国，高地是农业用地资源的重要组成部分。苏格兰和英格兰北部的高地地区历来以放牧肉牛和羊为主。肉牛和肉羊对当地生计以及国家粮食供应和经济都很重要。例如，苏格兰有大约260万只母羊，12700个农业农场，为经济提供了1.89亿英镑的年回报。在生产羊肉方面，英国是世界上的佼佼者。它是全球第六大生产国，36%的产量出口到100多个国家。此外，英国高地作为一个整体——包括农业用地——在解决许多更广泛的环境问题（如防洪、生物多样性增强、高原沼地、泥炭地和森林的碳封存）方面发挥着重要作用。减少放牧的动物数量可以对生物多样性产生积极影响，但同样令人担忧的是，减少放牧可能对高地景观中的开放栖息地产生负面影响。高地的农业和其他土地利用极具挑战性，目前在经济上不可行，需要应对气候变化、牲畜疾病和社会需求变化等挑战。在这个项目中，我们将深入研究四个高地案例研究地区，并与生活在那里的人们以及在这些地区工作的组织合作，以更好地了解影响肉牛和羊养殖户对变化的适应能力的关键因素是什么，以及肉牛和羊养殖的变化对当地和全球粮食供应、高地环境、当地就业机会和当地文化的影响。这四个案例研究区域是奥克尼、刘易斯和斯凯岛、苏格兰边境和约克郡山谷。该项目的目的是为决策者、地方当局和企业机构、非政府组织、食品加工商和零售商、农民和农业团体以及当地人民提供更好的决策工具。通过更好地了解粮食系统不同方面之间的相互作用，我们将能够了解谁会变得脆弱，以及如何变得脆弱，以及什么样的行动会使这些脆弱性得到改善或恶化。

This proposal will examine how beef cattle and sheep farmers in upland areas of Northern England and Scotland can improve their resilience to environmental, economic, and social change, and what impact their actions to improve resilience will have on food supplies, natural resources and society.Uplands make up 70% of Scotland, 60% of Wales, 40% of Northern Ireland and 15% of England. Hence over the UK as a whole uplands are a substantial element of the agricultural land resource. The upland regions of Scotland and Northern England have been historically dominated by grazing beef cattle and sheep. Beef cattle and sheep are important to local livelihoods as well as the national food supply and economy. Scotland, for example, has around 2.6 million ewes, 12,700 agricultural holdings, providing the economy with an annual return of £189 million. The UK is a world player when it comes to producing sheep meat. It is the sixth biggest producer globally and exports 36% of output to more than 100 countries. In addition, the UK uplands as a whole - including agricultural land - have a substantial role to play in addressing many wider environmental issues (e.g. flood prevention; biodiversity enhancement; carbon sequestration in upland moorlands, peatlands and forests). Reduced numbers of animals grazing can have positive impacts on biodiversity, but there are equally concerns that reduced grazing can have negative impacts on open habitats in upland landscapes. Farming and other land uses in the uplands is extremely challenging, currently financially unviable, and needing to respond to the challenges such as climate change, livestock diseases and changing demands from society. In this project we will study four upland case study areas in-depth, and work with the people living there, and with organisations working in those areas to understand better what are the critical factors that influence beef cattle and sheep farmers' resilience to change, and what impact changes in beef cattle and sheep farming can have on food supplies locally and globally, the upland environment, local employment opportunities, and local cultures. These four case study areas are Orkney, Lewis and the Isle of Skye, Scottish borders and Yorkshire Dales.The aim of this project is to provide better tools for decision making for policy makers, local authorities and enterprise agencies, non-governmental organisations, food processors and retailers, farmers and farming groups and local people. By understanding better the interactions among different aspects of the food system, we will be able to appreciate who become vulnerable and how, and what actions will make these vulnerabilities better or worse.