New Entrants in Agriculture – The Case of Young Immigrant Farmers in Sweden

Abstract

The opportunities available to start up a successful farm business structure the future of European farming. As fewer farm daughters and sons are projected to take over the family farm, there is increasing policy and academic interest in new entrants and the challenges they meet when they start their farm. This study focuses on new entrants that immigrate to Sweden. This group can be considered an extreme case of new entrants, as key resources (land, local networks, family labour support and farm specific knowledge are usually lacking for these farmers). Based on interviews with immigrant farmers in the Mälardalen region, we present the different ways they get access to economic, cultural and social capital. These insights are valuable for policy aimed at helping immigrant farmers starting up.

Keywords

• young farmers
• new entrants
• immigrant farmers
• capital
• trust