Smallholder Association

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The Kleinbauern-Vereinigung ( Association for the Protection of Small and Medium-Sized Farmers , VKMB) is involved at the political level for small and medium-sized farmers in Switzerland .

history

The association was founded in 1980 by René Hochuli , a small farmer from the canton of Aargau , together with 200 other farmers as a peasant opposition group. The aim was to limit the state subsidies to agriculture to farms and to differentiate the price supports to achieve a more even distribution across all farms. In 1985 the association - together with the Denner company - submitted the first small-scale farmers' initiative, which, however, was narrowly rejected by the people six years later. In 1994 a second smallholder initiative was submitted, which also failed at the ballot box. The small farmers' association supported further initiatives on animal welfare, spatial planning and genetic engineering.

After the sudden death of René Hochuli in 1989, the Bernese farmer Ruedi Baumann served as President of the VKMB for twelve years.

Organization and goals

In the club are farmers and consumers members. For the board of directors, it is stipulated that more than half of the members must draw a substantial part of their income from farming. The office is located in Bern . The Bernese organic farmer and politician Regina Fuhrer-Wyss has chaired the association since 2011 .

In its mission statement, the association has set itself the goal of food production combined with multifunctional services, environmentally friendly management and species-appropriate animal husbandry. The aim is to supply the population with food that is produced as ecologically, fairly and regionally as possible. Participation and contact between consumers and farmers are very important and are encouraged. The smallholder association is politically committed to its goals and uses instruments of direct democracy ( popular initiative and legal referendum ). The media are supplied with statements on current issues and the association members are informed.

Projects

The association launched a contact point for farm handovers outside the family. There, farmers who do not have a family business are given a farm.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Federal popular initiative 'for a natural farmer - against animal factories (small farmers initiative)' , referendum of June 4, 1989, Swiss Federal Chancellery, accessed July 14, 2015.
  2. ↑ Federal popular initiative 'for inexpensive food and organic farms' , referendum on September 27, 1998, Swiss Federal Chancellery, accessed July 14, 2015.
  3. ↑ Ruedi Baumann leaves the presidency at the VKMB. LID, June 22, 2000, accessed July 15, 2015 .