Food and agriculture restoration management involving networked groups (the FARMING network)

Following a nuclear accident, stakeholder involvement is essential in the formulation of strategies for maintaining agricultural production and food safety. The importance of setting up national stakeholder groups as part of contingency planning has been illustrated by the success of the Agriculture and Food Countermeasures Working Group in the UK. In recognition of this, the European Commission is providing financial support to develop the FARMING network, initially involving stakeholder groups in the UK, Finland, France, Belgium and Greece. These national groups contain individuals involved in making policy decisions within government departments and agencies, the food and agriculture industries, as well as individuals with specialist expertise. The groups meet annually as part of pre-accident planning to debate and judge a range of management options. A web-site provides the mechanism by which information and expertise is exchanged between national groups. This paper gives an overview of the approach being adopted, describes initial progress and outlines the expected benefits of such a network