FARM PLURIACTIVITY AND RURAL POLICY - SOME EVIDENCE FROM WALES

Drawing on data from 427 interviews in Wales, U.K., this paper examine s the ability of internal and external variables to explain the phenom enon of pluriactivity in farm households. It is the household as a uni t, and the process of maintaining its viability, that forms the focus of the study, with pluriactivity being defined as the generation of in come additional to that from primary agriculture, by any member of the household. The survey revealed that, whilst primary agriculture retai ns its position as the main income, only a minority of households did not have a supplemental source of income. Indeed, these 'other sources ' can be financially very important. Off-farm work was the most signif icant type. A degree of differentiation was apparent between farmer, s pouse and other family members and the type of income-generating activ ity. Internal variables (particularly physical farm size, farm type, e ducation and ethnicity) are shown to have some statistical ability to explain the patterns of pluriactivity. Pluriactivity is of interest in the present environment of agricultural policy reform. However, there is some evidence that pluriactivity is not driven solely by financial pressure or policy measures aimed at farm diversification. The paper concludes that policy aimed at the diversification of the farm busines s may be less than successful as many internal and external factors ap pear to work to restrict such activities. Most of the contemporary gro wth in pluriactivity has been in the form of off-farm jobs - a policy sector presently divorced from farm/agricultural policy.