Greenacres aims to provide agricultural advice and consultancy in the UK and around the world leading to more sustainable land use, both environmentally sound and economically viable.

The aim of Greenacres is to help secure a long-term positive earnings balance for farmers in today’s difficult agricultural market. The Brundtland Report to the World Commission on Environment and Development defined sustainable development as ‘meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’. Clearly some modern agriculture methods are ‘unsustainable’ and so through this service I am seeking to promote production systems which will keep high returns for farmers into the future as well as maintaining the resources upon which those yields are based.

My Bachelors degree in agronomy from Bath University led to work in the agricultural advisory sector in the UK and overseas. After further academic courses in business management at Kingston University I spent more time overseas (Africa and Asia) in agricultural development. I came back to live in the UK in 1998 with the vision to set up this service. On my return I managed a community food links group at Devon County Council and worked with the Soil Association as Technical Manager to gain extra experience. I recently graduated with a Masters degree in Agricultural Development from Wye College and launched Greenacres Consultancy in July 2000.
  The vision of Greenacres emphasises care for the environment, pursuit of justice and shared wealth for UK and overseas farmers. Much of my recent work in the UK has focused on diversification and support for entrepreneurial farmers who are adding value to agricultural produce. Work with biomass and fair-trade projects in the UK have resulted in a reduction of waste, provision of green energy and sensible use of food miles throughout the commodity system.  
 

In the overseas branch of the work some of the main areas of Greenacres expertise revolve around micro-finance, sustainable livelihoods systems and the use of participatory research in community development in areas such as Tibet, Nepal and Eastern Europe. The Greenacres service is particularly geared to adding value to agricultural produce, making use of appropriate technology and innovative trading systems such as fair-trade and organic production. Recent work has focussed on the potential for export as a means of income generation for some Asian communities.

Greenacres can also provide either formal educational packages or mentoring schemes to suit the client’s needs. As such the Greenacres service is a very innovative strategy combining information from conventional agricultural practice, UK and international development theory and organic/low input systems to develop a truly integrated and progressive service.

  
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