Disconnected realities within Icelandic agriculture

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Disconnected realities within

Icelandic agriculture

A field study of farmers' narratives on the changing landscape of domestic

agricultural production in Hrunamannahreppur, Southern Iceland

Hrönn Thorkelsdóttir

Department of Human Geography Masters Thesis, 30 HE Credits Geography

Globalization, Environment and Social Change (120 Credits) Spring Term 2020

Supervisor: Anders Wästfelt

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Thorkelsdóttir, Hrönn (2020). Disconnected realities within Icelandic agriculture; A field study of farmers' narratives on the changing landscape of domestic agricultural production in Hrunamannahreppur, Southern Iceland.

Human Geography, advanced level, master thesis for master exam in Globalization, Environment and Social Change, 30 ECTS credits.

Supervisor: Anders Wästfelt Language: English

Abstract

This thesis is situated in the academic sphere of human geography. The overall aim is to identify the current challenges and possibilities Icelandic farmers face in terms of changes in importation laws. This research is exemplary in its field as it uses the narratives of the stakeholders, farmers in this case, as the main data source. The research questions were as following: Is there an agricultural cluster in the region and if so, how does it work; what challenges and possibilities do farmers in the municipality of Hrunamannahreppur face in terms of the recent import law and lastly; according to the farmers, how do policies and laws in Icelandic agriculture ensure long-term farming practices in Iceland. The thesis uses theories of agricultural localization theory, cluster theory and the concepts of competitive and comparative advantages along with the concept of food self-sufficiency. The methods used are semi-structured qualitative interviews during a field study in southern Iceland. Data sources include seven qualitative interviews with farmers in the selected area, a review of agricultural policies and frameworks, and other sources such as articles and media. The main findings are that there is an unexplained disconnect within agriculture and its actors, indicating that policies give preferentiality to economic gain rather than preserving long-term farming in Iceland.

Keywords

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Acknowledgements

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1.0 Introduction

The conditions for agriculture in Iceland are shaped by the natural landscape and geology of the island. The island is mostly formed of lava, volcanic rock, and sedimentary rocks. There are numerous active volcanoes on the island and vast areas that are vulnerable for wind and water erosion. The agricultural sector has short cultivation cycles as temperatures are unusually low in the summer, well below average for other Nordic countries (Johannesson, 2010). Iceland has an abundance of natural resources that are unique in a global perspective; those include the access to geothermal water, high quality cold water and hydropower electricity which is not a common feature with other nearby countries in Europe. Due to its location and geological limitations the country is highly dependent on importation of for instance, oil, machinery, technical solutions, clothing, and finally food and food supplementary products.

In the context of agriculture, the country’s legal framework has gone from being a productivity rewarded sector, to regulated farming practices. This shift has seemingly decelerated the growth of the sector, limiting the aspirations of a long-term farming practice in Iceland. The frameworks are based on laws from 1985 that have not been revised or fully adapted to current environmental conditions, climate change threats, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s), nor for the benefit of the farmers and the consumers. Recently, implications of law revisions, or additions, have surfaced that give the impression that the goal is neither the development of the sector nor fortifying long-term farming practices. Consumer surveys and research show that the average Icelandic consumer chooses locally produced food over imported food, therefore it is hard to comprehend the newly implemented laws on fresh produce in January of 2020. The law enables the import of fresh meat into the country, which inevitably puts the whole agricultural sector into direct competition with food producers that are of enormous scale in comparison with the Icelandic ones.

As this thesis demonstrates, allowing free flow of importation in fresh produce has gone against both the farmers’ and consumers desires. The farmers’ aspiration is to produce high-quality food with sustainable methods, to fight against climate change impacts, food insecurity and to minimize the use of artificial fertilizers. Farmers are eager to enable the re-ruralizing of the country by bringing more production units and services closer to their vicinity. Consumers have, according to former research (Halldorsdottir and Nicholas, 2016) demonstrated a clear will to purchase domestically produced food and therefore the policies are contradicting that preference. By focusing on the farmers’ narratives, this thesis has put their perspectives at the forefront which gives a fresh perspective into research on agriculture in Iceland.

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2.0 Aim and relevance of thesis

This thesis’ overall aim is to examine the possibilities and challenges that farmers in Hrunamannahreppur face in terms of competition with imported food produce and the current legal frameworks in Icelandic agriculture. The research took place in an agricultural dense area in Southern Iceland to identify if there is an active agricultural cluster and how it can be used for development in the region. Research in the Icelandic agricultural sector has predominantly been directed towards quantitative research. For instance, on soil conditions, sheep grazing, demographics, economic impacts, and the various environmental effects due to agricultural practices. By approaching this research from a human geographic perspective, a recognition of the societal aspects of agriculture in Iceland can be determined. Therefore, this research gives a platform to the farmers’ narratives in the field study location, tying together their experiences and perspectives of working within agricultural frameworks and laws in Iceland. The academic and societal relevance of this thesis is therefore to put the average Icelandic farmer’s experience into the limelight. With that goal the research is based on semi-structured qualitative interviews as empirical data with the aim to answer these three research questions:

▪ Is there an agricultural cluster in the region and if so, how does it work? ▪ What challenges and possibilities do farmers in the municipality of

Hrunamannahreppur face in terms of the recent import law?

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3.0 Background

This section will begin with an overview of the conditions for farming as they are unique to Iceland. Thereafter the history of agriculture in Iceland is summarized to recognize the limitations that farmers face in terms of cultivation on the island. Followed by an overview of agricultural laws, policy frameworks and subsidy plans for each subsector within agriculture as they are contextually import in the results and discussion chapters. Finally, a short review of current discussions, media coverage and other research literature that shed light on present times in Icelandic agriculture will be depicted.

3.1 Natural conditions of Iceland

Iceland is an island that lies in the North Atlantic Ocean, just south of the Arctic Circle between the latitudes 63.2° N and 66.3°N. The shortest distance to neighboring countries is 290 km to Greenland, 800 km to Scotland and 970 km to Norway (Britannica, 2020). The population of Iceland is currently approximately 356.000 which is a steady increase of about 2,5 percent from the year before (Eurostat, 2020). The majority of the population lives on the main island but a few thousand live on smaller islands close to the coast. The population density is low, at about 3,1 inhabitants/km2. Over 80% of the population live in or near the capital region which is located on the south-west corner of the island as can be seen in Figure 1 below (Statistics Iceland, 2019). In comparison, the geographical size of Iceland is approximately the size of Portugal and Bulgaria while the population is similar to Malta, see Table 1 in appendix for comparison (Eurostat, 2020).

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Despite the northern location of the country the temperature is mild during the winter due to the Gulf Stream bringing warm water from the south. On the other hand, the temperatures are unusually low during the summer in comparison to other European countries due to the country’s northern location. Consequently the range of agricultural plants able to be grown is limited and that the yield season is shorter. As seen in Figures 1 and 2 the center of the country is an unpopulated wilderness. The majority of agricultural farming are in the deep valleys of the north and the southern lowlands. Due to volcanic activity in the country, as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge1 lies across it, soil is ample in the lowlands, but the composition of the soil is distinctive (Johannesson, 2010). The soil is dominated by Andosols (a dark-colored soil) while covered by vegetation which is a rather unique characteristic in comparison to other countries in the world. Although the climate is moist, the presence of deserts in Iceland is believed to be caused by an imbalance between human and nature from the time of Iceland’s settlement in 870 AD. It is estimated that vegetation covered 60 percent of the land surface before settlement, and of that around 20% was natural forest. Currently, the total amount of vegetation is 27% of the land and only 1 percent contains natural forest. There are signs of active desertification occurring in some parts of the island due to high altitudes and/or volcanic activity (Arnalds, 2008; Johannesson, 2010).

Figure 2. A map of cultivation zone types in Iceland. The green zones are high fertile cultivation areas (LBHI, 2008). The largest urban area is the capital of Reykjavík and its surrounding suburbs, with 228.231 inhabitants (Statistics Iceland, 2020a). The capital itself evolved from a fishing village to a highly urbanized area with little agricultural nor fish production in a few decades. Urbanization trends in the capital region occurred rapidly from the 1950s due to

1_{The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge, a divergent or constructive plate boundary located along}

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industrialization corresponding with trends in other European countries (Olafsson, 1997). Due to the rapid pace of urbanization, rural areas became sparser and therefore the future of farming became a concern for inhabitants of the rural areas of the country.

3.2 Agriculture in Iceland

The geographical location and geology of Iceland have, according to earlier research, been presented as limiting in terms of agricultural production at all scales. Most of the farms, or 90%, are situated below 200 meters above sea level, which is where most of the arable land is situated. Approximately 15 percent of the island is arable which gives the impression that opportunities for expansion and introduction of new varieties in agriculture are constrained (Government of Iceland, 2019). For the most part, agricultural farms have resided in the southern part of Iceland, with 27.346 total inhabitants (Statistics Iceland, 2020b). In 2019 agriculture claimed almost 5% of GDP which means it increased slightly from the year before (Statistics Iceland, 2019).

The limitations of farming were first recognized during the urbanization phase in the 1950-70s. As the national market is small, the scale of business is trivial and transportation routes, both locally and globally, are long. A large portion of service units, such as health inspectors, veterinarians, and technical services, are considered inefficient as each unit serves a large geographical area but relatively few farms. Farmers have a proven disadvantage in the retail market with relation to importation as the market is, as mentioned above, made up of a small number of production units or farms. That exemplifies the farmers disadvantage in the consumer market (Johannesson, 2010). However, because of the abundance of natural resources such as geothermal water, hydropower electricity, pristine irrigation water and other available resources, Icelandic farmers have created innovative ideas of self-sufficient farming. Despite the innovative ideas and measures taken, Iceland’s food supply relies highly on imports; this also means fodder and other produce that is essential for farming practices. However, as the island's geographical position is remote, the slightest natural disaster or infrastructure failure can put the country's supplies at risk due to fragmented transportation links (Bailes and Johannsson, 2011).

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till 1995 an overproduction of lamb meat and dairy led to the revision of the subsidy system and agricultural policies. Support for export was halted and a quota system was implemented for dairy farmers. As the consumption pattern and demand changed in the late 90’s and early 2000s, it became evident that local agricultural production covered a smaller proportion of local consumption than before. Imports were at an all-time high and arable land was being sold for other purposes, such as for summer cabins, tourism, and other derived services. The current drive is towards maintaining margins by reducing inputs as well as by increasing outputs. Dairy and sheep production are steady, but the number of traditional farms is declining. Increasing urban demand for rural estates is causing a significant rise in farmland prices. Farmers and other landowners are looking to alternative land uses in addition to food production and agriculture to become progressively more multifunctional (Johannesson, 2010). The extraordinary aspects of Icelandic agriculture is that the cows, sheep, and horses are relatively pure breeds that have remained nearly isolated since Iceland’s settlement. Although sheep production may not have profound macro-economic effects it is a vital element for a traditional way of living in rural Iceland. Due to Iceland’s isolated location the prevention of disease in animals is a high priority for Icelandic sheep and dairy farming (Halldorsdottir, 2018).

3.3 Agricultural frameworks, subsidies plans, and laws

The Icelandic Agricultural sector receives about two to three percent of total governmental expenditure (Arion Bank, 2016). Subsidies geared towards agriculture have been diminishing in the last few decades. These subsidies consist of direct payments to farmers and contributions to land reclamation and forestry from the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority, the Ministry of Innovation and Business among others (Government of Iceland, 2016a). Frameworks and subsidies plans vary on the type of farming carried out on the land. In this section the subsidy plans and legal frameworks will be explained to aid with comprehension of the results and discussion later in the thesis.

3.3.1 Subsidies plans

There are separate agreements for subsidies for sheep and dairy farmers but both of them include and put importance on safeguarding the relatively pure breed of the species and place value on the development of sectors, better earnings and increasing competitiveness within each sector. The dairy and sheep subsidy plans put emphasis on the recruitment of farmers, which can facilitate long-term farming in rural Iceland. Along with securing quality and variety in food products animal welfare and ensuring environmental protection and sustainable practices in land-use are of importance in the subsidies plans. The plans stress marketing, innovation, and marketing awareness in sheep farming to increase value creation and potential export opportunities. The cattle agreement especially makes a note that they want to give the industry the flexibility to prepare for increased foreign competition and create certain conditions for exploring opportunities in foreign markets (Government of Iceland, 2016b; 2016c).

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yearly fees into the Icelandic Farming Association and follow due diligence in reporting. It is possible to move or buy the entitlements for subsidies, but that is set to expire in 2026. To receive full direct payments, the farmer must have a minimum of 0.7 winter feed sheep for each valid payment limit, however that condition will expire in January 2021. As an example, a farmer gets on average 2.2 Euros2 per kilo, the slaughterhouse then sells the produce to retailers and is awarded the profits. Farmers pay 3.5 Euros for each animal that is bruised or dead after transportation as the abattoir will need to get rid of the carcass (Government of Iceland, 2016c; Halldorsdottir, 2018). Other additional subsidies or payments are directed for the maintenance of the farm and for wool production, among others (Government of Iceland, 2016c).

Horticulture farmers receive subsidized payments for three types of vegetables. The requirements for payments are the same as the sheep and cattle farmers regarding registration and taxation; i.e. tax number and registered owners or tenants of the land or farm. The direct payments are for tomatoes (including cherry, plum, cluster and beefsteak tomatoes), cucumbers and bell peppers. The total amount of direct payments is divided by the quantity sold of individual premium class products within the year. Tomatoes receive 49% of total payments, cucumbers 37% and bell peppers 14%. According to the agreements the main reason for subsidies on these three species is to strengthen the competitive stance of domestic producers against imports on vegetables. The tariffs on imported vegetables was abolished in 2002, allowing free importation of fresh vegetables from the EU zone. This means that the prices are somewhat fixed for those types and not for other types of vegetables such as lettuce. Geothermal greenhouse farmers are guaranteed with cost subsidies in the transmission and distribution of electricity to promote a cost-efficient working environment. Other subsidies are for transportation costs to ensure fresh produce in the markets (Government of Iceland, 2016d). It is clear that subsidies for horticulture are lacking in comparison with the other sectors in agriculture although the demand for horticultural products are rising (Bailes and Jóhannsson, 2011).

3.3.2 Agricultural framework

The latest version of the Icelandic Agricultural framework was passed in the early months of 2016. The framework concerns the common conditions of horticulture, cattle and dairy farming, and sheep farming from 2017 to 2026. The framework is valid for ten years at a time, with expected revisions and added contributions in 2019 and again in 2023. The reasons for the long period of validation is because there are significant changes being made in the working environment in agriculture and therefore a long-term framework was beneficial in comparison to the shorter ones before. The goal of the framework is to promote Icelandic agriculture and create an industry with a wide range of opportunities for development. It aims to increase value creation in agriculture and make the best use of the opportunities offered by rural areas for the benefit of farmers, consumers, and society at large (Baendabladid, n.d.). The emphasis is on organic production, animal welfare, environmental protection, and sustainable land use. This is perceived to ease the recruitment and transition of agriculture along with forest preservation and land-use research. Investment grants for pig farming are a part of the framework to strengthen that field as well and support for organic production will be tenfold from the present with

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special support introduced for goat farming, which is unprecedented. Furthermore, the agreement is accompanied by a protocol which provides for further discussions on the infrastructure of the dispersed areas and general issues regarding the regional policy of the government. The state's total expenditure on the contracts will be almost the same at the end of the contract period (at fixed prices) as they are now. All contracts are subject to a ceiling so that no manufacturer can receive more than a certain percentage of total contributions (Baendabladid, n.d.; Government of Iceland, 2016a).

3.4 Changes in importation laws

In January 2020, a new law was passed that allows relatively uncontrolled importation of fresh meat produce from the EEA zone3. By implementing this law, the Icelandic government considered their international responsibilities to the EEA agreement to be fulfilled. Furthermore, the law is supposed to protect local produce and livestock, as well as try to enhance the comparative advantage of domestic food production. Former meat importation laws entailed that to obtain a license to import meat, retailers needed a certificate that showed that the produce had been stored at -18°C for at least one month prior to being cleared through customs in Iceland. Although the fresh meat importation laws were first passed in 2007 the laws have not been updated until recently. According to the Supreme Court and the EFTA4 court the Icelandic government has therefore breached its duties under the EEA agreement by not allowing fresh meat importation from other EEA member countries in the past. In the new importation law, a clause ensures the safety of food and the welfare of animals that are being imported. The companies that import have to demonstrate that frozen poultry is not contaminated by campylobacter which has been the same requirement that is required from local poultry farmers and production lines for the last two decades (Ministry of Industries and Innovation, 2020a). Additionally, an insurance license will take effect, which means that shipments of eggs, pork, beef, and poultry must be accompanied by confirmation that no salmonella has been detected in the product. These safety measurements are in accordance with the 17-action plan to strengthen food security (Icelandic Parliament, 2019), ensure livestock protection, and improve the competitive position of domestic food production (Ministry of Industries and Innovation, 2020a). Some of these measures are directed towards the abolition of the licensing system, while others are generally intended to promote the above objectives (Government of Iceland, 2020b).

3.5 Present day situation in Icelandic agriculture

Presently, Icelandic agriculture appears to be in uncertain times, in terms of securing local production and the ability to compete with imported food. As the rules for the importation of fresh meat were discussed and the implemented in January of 2020, farmers, especially in sheep and beef farming, have raised their concerns for the future of the Icelandic sheep and beef farmer. Most of the farmers who are raising sheep and cattle cannot make it a

3_{The European Economic Area (EEA) agreement guarantees equal rights and obligations within the}

Internal Market for individuals and economic operators in the EEA. EEA includes the member states of the EU and the three EFTA states (EFTA.int, 2020).

4_{The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) states are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and}

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stable livelihood and therefore it is difficult for them to compete with larger foreign meat producers that can run on cheap labor. The Icelandic market accounts for only a few percentage points of the biggest productions in Denmark, for example, and therefore competition is non-existent (Ministry of Industries and Innovation, 2020a; Halldorsdottir, 2018). Agricultural policies are regarded as outdated and built on old foundations instead of following the purchasing power and inflation of the national economy. They do not fully consider new technology, climate change actions and innovative ideas that farmers have had to pay for out of their own pockets. There are more possibilities for more sustainable methods and usage of land, for instance with regard to growing year-round (or longer seasons) outdoors, the technology for in growing in greenhouses has improved and certain species such as berries, mushrooms and fruit are being grown more and more. This can only mean an advantage for the consumers in Iceland and a great unused opportunity to export goods to other countries. Measures from farmers’ associations and other subdivisions seem to be driving the development of the sector and one of those is achieving carbon neutral agriculture by 2040. The sector has always adapted with the changing landscape in economy, as they did in 2008 when the global financial crisis hit. The farmers decided to put a temporary stop to receiving subsidies in order to contribute to the nation’s recovery after the crisis (Gautason, 2019). Although agricultural practices in Iceland are among the cleanest in the world there is still a long way to go towards making it carbon neutral. Innovation of new technology is high in the sector but if nothing is done about the greenhouse gas emissions it will increase very much in the next decades because of the need for an expansion of the production (Gautason, 2019). Some believe the potential for exportation of Icelandic meat is untapped and as an example organic lamb meat was exported for the first time in 2019 to China. That might indicate that what is regarded as overproduction of lamb meat could turn into an export business and be able to facilitate global exportation growth (Baendabladid, 2019).

In the beginning of March 2020 there was implementations to prepare a new Agricultural policy for Iceland with a common vision and clear emphasis for the future as Icelandic agriculture is at a crossroads, meaning that the cooperation between divisions and sectors needs to be more streamlined for it to work towards the common goal. To summarize the enactment listed out the comparative advantage Icelandic agriculture has in terms of natural resources, healthy livestock, and little use of contaminants in food production. The goal was to emphasize innovation, product development, value creation and sustainability. It was also noted, however, that it is important to have a cohesive vision and more research and education of agriculture is needed. Lastly that the Icelandic agriculture is part of the nation’s awareness of nature and the history and culture of farming practices. Due to these facts there is a necessity for an agricultural policy that is based on heritage while still addressing the market demand and regime of the farmers (Ministry of Industries and Innovation, 2020b).

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demand after the pandemic is over. To summarize, these measures are to enhance the agricultural sector with increased budgets and investments and to increase production of vegetables to keep up with the market demand with an increased share of local vegetables. The measures for the agricultural sector were eightfold and addressed issues such as increasing service and counselling, providing innovation advice and a financial influx to farmers who are experiencing difficult times during the pandemic, documentation of the farmers’ product losses and ensuring that the sector had skilled personnel for assistance. Furthermore, data collection of agricultural production, stock and forecasts was to be created with the aim of summarizing statistics on production for short- and long-term food security. Lastly measures to promote the cultivation of industrial hemp to increase value creation in Icelandic agriculture were also adopted (Ministry of Industries and Innovation, 2020c). As these measures and plans are relatively new there is little to no information that can demonstrate whether these implementations have worked or not.

The famers themselves and their respective associations have been a driving force in promoting Icelandic produce to consumers, with coherent packaging and stamps to name a few. Due to the fear and uncertainty of the pandemic’s impact on the nation consumers started to hoard products in supermarkets. In response to that the Icelandic Farmers Association, The Horticulture Sales Company, MS Icelandic Dairies5, different fodder providers, retailers, meat production companies, and the Agricultural University among many more, decided to make themselves visible by putting an advertisement in the media that showcased the varieties of produce available in Iceland and that there is no need to worry about food shortage. See Figure 3 (translation for text can be seen in Appendix).

5_{MS Icelandic Dairies (Mjólkursamsalan) is a cooperative organization that includes over 600 of}

Iceland’s family-run dairy farms and other milk producers across Iceland (MS, 2020).

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4.0 Theoretical Framework

This thesis uses an agricultural geographic perspective, that means that the interest will be on the activities of the farms themselves and how they stand in terms of local and foreign markets. As economic, political, environmental, and social aspects are involved in the current agricultural theories those perspectives will have a significant influence in the paper as well (Wilson, 2009; Wästfelt and Zhang, 2016). In this chapter the theories that will be used in analysis and discussion will be explained. Those are, in displayed order, the agricultural localization theory, cluster theories, the concepts of competitive and comparative advantage and lastly the concept of food self-sufficiency.

4.1 Agricultural localization theory

Agricultural localization theory has a significant relevance to the research as the location of Iceland is unique. Iceland is an island that is geographically situated in the midst of the Atlantic Ocean, remote from large global markets. The available transportation links are with boats or by air transport. Due to Iceland’s location it means that importation of goods, whether it is food or other material items, takes more time than for other countries with a preferable geographical location. As one of the key themes in the thesis will be on the location and socio-economic practices of agriculture, hence the production in Iceland versus the import of foreign produce, it is important to have that in mind when analyzing the case of Iceland's food systems (Sinclair, 1967; Wästfelt and Zhang, 2016).

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4.2. Cluster theories

In the late nineteenth century, 1890 to be exact, a British economist named Alfred Marshall contributed to what is now defined as cluster theory. In his writings he stated that clusters are a concentration of specialized industries in particular localities (Marshall, 2012). The term that he used for those localized industries were industrial districts. Marshall stated that the reasons for a geographical concentration of firms might be various. First, the needs of the manufacturers to be close to the resources on which they depend. Localization is particularly related to physical conditions, such as climate, soil, mines, quarries and access to land or water. Secondly the encouragement or financial aid from an organization that demands the product to be produced in high-quality. Third, the presence of a town as nearly all industrial districts have been focused in one or more cities. Consequently, as land values in or near cities became higher the factories or entities tended to grow in the outskirts of the city in question, therefore forming a rural district of factories. Examples of that can be seen in many Nordic and European countries such as France, Sweden, and Denmark (Belussi and Caldari, 2009).

Although there are several theories that explain clusters, they all have the common ground on at least two points and Marshall’s contribution was essential in understanding spatial clustering (Vicente, 2018). Those essential points are the geographical location and then the interconnectivity of the firms or businesses in the localized cluster. Michael Porter’s cluster theory was described as geographic concentrations of interconnected institutions, companies, service providers, and firms in related industries all in a certain field or segment. Clusters, or critical masses of unusual competitive success business areas, are a striking feature of virtually every national, regional, state, and even metropolitan economy, especially in more advanced nations (Porter, 1998;2000). These clusters therefore incorporate a formation of linked industries and other entities that can be important to competition as clusters have been shown to be a driving force in increasing export and attracting investments, both local and foreign. These clusters can have specialized inputs such as components, services or being a provider of a specialized infrastructure, described in this quote by Porter (1998):

Clusters also often extend downstream to channels and customers and laterally to manufacturers of complementary products and to companies in industries related by skills, technologies, or common inputs. Finally, many clusters include governmental and other institutions – such as universities, standards-setting agencies, think tanks, vocational training providers, and trade associations that provide specialized training, education, information, research, and technical support. (p.78).

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country or across borders. The way companies are and have been looked at in terms of competitive success and configuration can then said to be achieved with clusters (Porter, 1998). Clusters can affect competition in three ways, first as an increase of productivity in the area itself, secondly by influencing the efficiency of the entity and third by encouraging formation of new business which can enlarge the cluster (Porter, 1998). As clusters increase productivity and efficiency across the services that they entail, the coordination and transactions across the firms in the cluster become horizontal and efficient. The increased efficiency can be portrayed in a specialized input into services, employees, and other public goods. Lastly, clusters stimulate innovation which creates a greater likelihood of succeeding with innovative opportunities, acquiring knowledge is easier, and experimentation is more likely to transpire given the available resources in the cluster (Porter, 1998; 2000).

A GREMI cluster is known as an innovative cluster that entails a group of relationships that develop spontaneously within a given geographical area (Borisova et al., 2015). The concept was invented by the GREMI group which is an acronym for Group de Recherche Européen sur les Milieux Innovateurs (European Research Group on Innovative Milieux). The group itself was formed in 1986 to research interactions between innovation and localized factories in France. They however make a point of not defining the GREMI cluster as a theory but rather a type of cluster (Maskell and Kebir, 2006). The difference between the Porter and Marshall definitions of clusters is therefore that the GREMI clusters are not formally planned. The cluster encourages knowledge sharing, development and animation of the innovative networks within the cluster, and by that, enables a collaboration, flow of information and know-how without any risk of unilateral appropriation since the actors in the cluster are cooperating and share the same work and long-term values (Toma and Turtoi, 2009). How these cluster theories can be portrayed in agriculture is known in Europe and at currently the development of clusters is used as a first strategy of socio-economic development in agriculture, in particular with the theme of food security. The strategy is rather popular, and the Swedish, Finnish, and Danish agricultural industries can be said to be fully clustered (Borisova et al., 2015).

4.3 Clusters in Agriculture

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focusing on authoritarian gain. They include horizontal and vertical integrations to create the synergy the farmers and inhabitants need. As mentioned above the typical cluster includes companies from a small to a large scale that do not profit from competing with other companies in the cluster but share specialized resources. The definition of the localization of the agricultural cluster can vary and therefore is not strictly determined to one type (Borisova et al, 2015).

By applying the cluster and agricultural cluster theories, along with the concepts of competitive and comparative advantage in the thesis, it can be possible to identify how Icelandic farmers have created their own cluster through the comparative advantage they possess. Unlike other developed countries and especially Nordic countries, Iceland does not have a pre-defined or built agricultural cluster with cooperation from the authorities and other entities that gain economic leverage by the cluster (Borisova et al., 2015).

4.4 Competitive and comparative advantage

4.4.1 Competitive advantage

Competitive strategy is the search for a favorable competitive position within an industry, the fundamental arena in which competition occurs. Competitive strategy aims to establish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine industry competition (Cantone and Abbate, 2006). Innovation, improvement, and change is seen to be central to creating competitive advantage. Competitive advantage is seen as encompassing the entire value system, which is comprised of the value chains of the firm, suppliers, channels, and buyers. The strongest form of competitive advantage often emerges from within a geographically localized cluster. Strong clusters tend to attract more firms and the regions with a strong innovative record have an advantage in achieving more innovation and can be described as self-fulfilling (Toma and Turtoi, 2009). Porters Five Forces is a model used to analyze a firm’s relative competitive position within a given industry, see Figure 4. It gives a clear framework for assessing the effect of the external environment on a firm’s ability to sustain a competitive advantage (Srivastava, Franklin and Martinette, 2013). Porter suggests however a more generic or broad set of strategies for creating defendable position in the

long-run and therefore

outperforming competitors. Those generic strategies are i) cost leadership, ii) differentiation and iii) focus/niche strategy (Porter, 2000). The strategy has then two variants which are cost focus and differentiation focus. To summarize, cost leadership strategy is when a firm finds and exploits all sources of cost advantage with the aim of becoming the low-cost producer in its industry. If that

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firm can achieve and sustain overall cost leadership, it will automatically become an above average performer in its industry. This however depends on its ability to command prices at or near the industry average. Second generic strategy is differentiation. There, a firm seeks to be unique in its industry along some dimensions and having its product or service widely appreciated by the customers. The firm selects one or more attributes that buyers feel that is important and thereby differentiates themselves from other firms with uniqueness and premium price. Focus or niche strategy is the third and last one in Porters generic strategies in competitiveness. A firm seeks a narrow competitive scope, selects segments in the industry and creates an exclusion of others. This strategy has two variants, cost focus where the cost advantage is the target segment and differentiation focus where the firm seeks differentiation in its target segment (Porter, 1985; Tanwar, 2013).

4.4.2 Comparative advantage

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superiority identified in the Ricardian model concerns National and International policies. Often, policies that are aimed towards infrastructure, export promotion, education and training can be aided by and/or facilitate comparative advantage. Those can be portrayed as subsidies plans, taxation preferences, restrictions and several other means that are used to create value within domestic industries. Commercial policies that restrict importation with tariffs, restraints or import licensing have as well been used to the advantage of domestic import competing industries (Argarwal, 2020; Gupta, 2015). These restrictive policies and rules are well known worldwide, for example with the trade arrangements of the European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

4.5 Food self-sufficiency

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5.0 Methodology

In this chapter I will explain how human agency in geography has developed in academia followed by a summarization and critique of the qualitative research strategy that was applied in the thesis. A fully detailed description of the research process is explained and divided into subchapters such as location of field study, sampling method, a detailed description of the qualitative interviews that took place in the field study and lastly a depiction of the coding during and after transcribing the interviews. Finally, this chapter contains an ethical statement, reflection of the role of the researcher as well as a limitations section that will explain the turbulent effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the data gathering, analysis and writing of the thesis.

5.1 Methods in Human Geography

Before the 1970s spatial science had been at the forefront of geography, which many considered to fall short when it came to applying science to creative, imaginative, and free-thinking human beings. Due to that critique, the term ‘human geography’ came into being. Humanistic geography was therefore the qualitative answer to the quantification of all-important things. These geographers aspired to investigate the basic human meaning in the intricates of spatial science, as people are not of any measurable size. Humans present a different kind of problem in the geographic sphere (Creswell, 2014). Human agency is of essence in human geography although there are debates on how it should be conceptualized. Human geography is therefore an amalgam of social science that stretches into both natural science and humanities and thus shares similar approaches with other social sciences, including methods for research (Flowerdew and Martin, 2005). Methodology in academic research requires the translation of epistemological and ontological guidelines and assumptions into data that can be analyzed. The stages in methodology are typically defined as the selection of objects of analysis, which may or may not be human. The following stages are the conceptualization of suitable data and the formulation of research questions. Additional stages include research ethics, reflexivity and validation of the data acquired (Del Casino, Grimes, Hanna, and Jones, 2000). In present times, human geography embodies diversity in methods and approaches as geographical research is based on philosophical assumptions or preferences. Therefore the methods in human geography are continuously being reevaluated in academia (Flowerdew and Martin, 2005).

5.2 Qualitative research strategy

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represent an interpretivist position. As epistemology is the science of knowing, methodology is the science of finding out (Babbie, 2016).

Qualitative research has been gradually accepted in social science in recent years despite it being more controversial than quantitative research methods because of the seemingly lack of reproducibility and a research process (Bryman, 2012). Qualitative methods demonstrate a different approach to scholarly inquiry than methods of quantitative research. Although the processes are similar, qualitative methods usually rely on text and image data, have unique steps in data analysis, and often draw on diverse designs (Creswell, 2014). The three main features of qualitative research are firstly the inductive view, secondly an epistemological position and lastly the ontological position. An inductive view is when research is generated out of a theory while an epistemological position puts importance on the interpretation of the participants, and therefore on understanding the social world through the participants in the research. Lastly the ontological position implies that social properties are a result of interplay between individuals (Bryman 2012, p. 380). As qualitative research is a broadly applied term that covers a wide array of approaches and methods found within different research disciplines, it is problematic to explain the methodology in a streamlined way. However, it is possible to identify a study as qualitative when a research design questions the ‘what’ ‘why’ and ‘how’ rather than ‘how many’. Other methods that are unambiguously qualitative are semi-structured and in-depth interviews, focus groups and observational methods. These methods all rely on the narratives of individuals or their behavior and therefore cannot be generalized, quantified or reduced to numbers (Kvale and Brinkmann, 2014). Lastly, qualitative research tends to work backwards, meaning that the hypothesis is commonly generated from analysis of the data rather than from the beginning (Ritchie et al., 2012).

5.2.1 Critique of qualitative research

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A person's history, background, education, age, gender, ethnicity, and other socio-economic attributes can give unique results. Therefore, it is important to list the methodology, strategy, sample size and lastly each and every step of analysis in order for the reader to follow the process from beginning to end and how decisions made along the way might or might not affect the end results.

5.3 The research processes

The act of doing research can be described as speaking a language as the researcher learns new terms while conducting the research. To explain, this involves listening to and reading from those who are already versed in the relevant practice (Flowerdew and Martin, 2005). As each qualitative research process varies in its methodology, structure and analysis the overall aims of qualitative research are generally to provide an in-depth and interpreted understanding of the world, by learning about the social and material circumstances, experiences, perspectives and background of the research subject (Ritchie et al, 2013). In this sub-chapter a detailed description of each research process will be provided, starting with a brief description of semi-structured interviews, introduction to the location of the study. Then the sampling method is presented and lastly a depiction of the interview process itself.

5.3.1 Semi-structured interviews

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24 5.3.2 Location of field study

The choice of location was multifaceted, and it is safe to state that the reasons were both personal and theoretical as well. Hrunamannahreppur is a municipality located in the southern region of Iceland. It is an area of 1.375 km2 and has a population of approximately 810 persons (Fludir, 2020; Statistics Iceland, 2020). As seen in Figure 5 the area has an urbanized zone, portrayed as the grey area in the lower left of the picture. The middle top image shows the municipality’s location in southern Iceland. The farming land is green, and the area is mountainous with and the river marks the border around it. The urbanized settlement in the municipality is called Fludir and it is located about 100 km from the capital region of Reykjavík. The location’s natural conditions are one of the reasons why it was chosen for this research as it is one of the largest agriculturally dense areas in Iceland. It has an abundance of natural resources such as geothermal water supplies, cold water wells and reasonable amounts of arable land as well as climate conditions that are more stable overall in comparison with other areas in the country. An abundance of diverse farms are situated in the area and many innovative farming practices have taken place there in the past few decades; for example, strawberry farming in greenhouses and the first mushroom farm in Iceland. Other farming practices to mention are dairy production farms, beef cattle farms, sheep farms, horticulture farms that produce in greenhouses as well as grow vegetables outdoors, flower farms, and other types of production such as honey(bees), tree farms, and other smaller initiatives.

Other reasons for the choice of location are personal to the researcher as I am very familiar with the area. I have both lived and gone to school there and I have family ties there to this day. In addition, I have worked at several farms in horticulture as a field worker, both inside geothermal greenhouses and outdoors with activities from clearing the old harvest from the greenhouses, planting seedlings, attending to the plants, harvesting, and packaging them. As the location of the field research had clear geographical boarders, all the participants had their farming practices within that area and therefore, I did not

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interview anyone outside of that scope. The reason for this was to keep within the set prerequisites of a preselected location in terms of the theory of clusters as explained in the theory section above.

5.3.3 Sampling method

As the aim of the research was to explore the narratives of famers in a specific area in Iceland, a pre-set criterion for the interviewees was set. A distinction is made in social research between probability and non-probability samples. Probability sampling is considered a more rigorous approach to sampling for statistical research and is therefore not used in qualitative research. In this research a purposive sampling was used, which means that the sample members were chosen with a purpose to represent a location or type. This sampling strategy thus ensures that aim of determining a cluster in the region is met (Bryman, 2012). The criteria for the sampling were as follows: farmers who have some current farming practices in the specific location of the field study. Gender, age, ethnicity, amount of land and number of animals being kept on the farm were not a criterion. However, farmers producing food, i.e. meat, vegetables, or fruit for consumption, was a criterion. The reason for that was that one of the aims of the research was to understand how farmers experience the regulatory frameworks within food production in Iceland.

A snowballing sample was used to some extent, which can be explained as an approach in which a researcher asks the first participant/s to refer or make suggestions of other people they feel might fit into the interview sampling criteria. As the population of the location is small and farmers are quite familiar with each other they might give better insight into who can provide different views or useful information that is valuable to the research. Snowball sampling can however produce a certain monogamy in answers as it can display similar or the same answers to the questions being asked. This approach can however be time-consuming and as time was limited for the field study, I used this approach to supplement the already established interviews I had when arriving to the field (Ritchie et al., 2013).

5.3.4 The qualitative interviews

Table 2. Simplified table of participants. Detailed table can be seen in Appendix.

As stated above in the methodology chapter, data was collected through semi-structured qualitative interviews with agricultural farmers in a preselected region of Iceland. The total number of participants ended up being seven from different sectors of agriculture. The farmers that participated were from different sectors in agriculture and therefore I

Pseudonym Gender Occupation Type of farming

A Female Beef Cattle farmer and teacher Beef Cattle

B Male Farmer Dairy farm

C Male Agricultural Consultant - Horticulture division Forestry D Male Owner of agricultural production Horticulture

E Male Owner of agricultural production Mushrooms and horticulture

F Male Carpenter and farmer Sheep

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was able to gather information from almost all sectors of the practices in the municipality. All the interviewee's names have been anonymized and have the pseudonyms A, B, C, D, E, F, G as seen here in Table 2 on page 25.

Farmer A went from having a mixed farm to specialize in beef cattle, Farmer B is a dairy farmer who is located on the same estate as the last two generations of his family. C is a horticulture consultant and a former horticulture farmer himself but has turned his own farming practices towards forestry and bee farming. D is the owner of an extensive horticulture farm, which contains multiple geothermal greenhouses and outdoor cultivation as well. Farmer E operates the mushroom farming production as well as having a horticulture farm with both outdoor cultivation and greenhouses. F and G are both sheep farmers with other occupations. Their farming practices are of different scales but both farms have been in their respective families for decades if not centuries and have had mixed farming practices on the land. Further details of each participant are listed, in Table 2 in the appendix. There their pseudonym, gender, occupation, the type of farming they practice and other data that are considered relevant for the presentation of the data has been collected.

Four potential interviewees were contacted on Facebook Messenger and through email a few days to a week before arriving at the location of the study, Hrunamannahreppur, on February 26th, 2020. They were given a short description of the research and asked if they would have time to sit down for an interview which would be recorded anonymously for the purpose of this master’s thesis. However, no actual date or time of the interview were set as they wanted me to contact them when I was in the area and they could see better then when they had time to sit down with me for an actual interview. The purpose of contacting them through the mediums of Facebook and email were to enable me to see how willing the farmers were to contribute to my research and if the time frame that I had in the field would suffice for the research.

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that fact, the interview guide is not included in the appendix section as the thesis itself is written in English.

Before entering the field, a goal of ten interviews was set but with the understanding that conditions and other internal or external factors could change the final number of interviews. It resulted in seven farmers being interviewed in late February 2020 to the early days of March of 2020. The reason for the short period of field work was due to the overlying COVID-19 pandemic and family situations. Therefore, I was not able to stay longer in the field. The time chosen was however strategic and planned in spite of not being as long as originally intended. This period of time is before the sowing season in outdoor horticulture, before the lambs are born and also before the farmers fertilize the fields for the summer, which made it more feasible for the interviewees to take time to participate in an interview.

The interviewees all decided where and when the interviews took place as I wanted the interviewee to feel comfortable and therefore a location of their choice was encouraged. Three of the interviews took place at the interviewee’s occupation, one in the residence of the researcher, three in their respective homes. All the interviews were recorded on a mobile device with consent of the interviewees after explaining that the recording would be anonymous. However, with the assumption that because of their occupation they could be identified to a certain extent as the municipality is small and it is easy to identify the interviewees because of the type of farm they own. I encouraged the interviewers to let me know if they did not want any of the recorded information to be transcribed and there were a few instances where sensitive information was not transcribed or quoted after the participants.

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Theming can be described as identifying codes from one or more data sample for an overall representation of each theme. The difference between a theme and a code is that instead of looking for one word as the code to a concept, insinuations, and discussions on a certain topic are identified as the theme (Bryman, 2012). While conducting a thematic analysis, main themes and subthemes were identified after reading and re-reading the transcripts, listening to recordings and from notes that were made during the interviews themselves. Sutton and Austin (2015) explain the importance of this process as forming an outline for the conclusion of the research as each theme identified can become a heading of a section or a chapter. The themes that are presented in the results chapter are therefore chosen because of their importance to the interviewees and were then related to the relevance of the aim and research questions. By using this technique, I was able to hear what they were saying and then what they were not saying. For instance, a lengthy pause could perhaps indicate that the participant is having a hard time talking about the issue; or is the person deciding what to say? The aim of using qualitative interviews as a method for extracting empirical data is to be able to tell the participants’ stories using examples or quotes from their own narratives, therefore giving light to the participant’s story, experience and aspirations (Sutton and Austin, 2015).

5.4. Ethical statement

The critique of qualitative research and qualitative interviews has focused on that the research methods are unstructured and unpredictable and give the researcher excessive interpretation and therefore it is imperative to consider the ethical aspects of the research (Bryman, 2012; Lewis, 2003). Informed consent of the participants is consequently vital for the ethical research process and to fulfil the ethical aspect of academic research. I made sure that the informants knew the purpose of the research, as well as getting consent for the interview to be recorded and how I would then use the data being collected. I explained to them that they could disclose information if desired, that they could stop the interview process and that they could let me know if they did not want some of the information repeated. In the cases that participants did not want those statements repeated I did not transcribe in the transcription process. The statements in this research that were excluded entailed either sensitive content or personal opinions that could create social and business setbacks for the participants in question. Anonymity of the informants is an important aspect of qualitative interview strategy as they should be provided with a platform that they feel safe and secure to explain or share their personal opinions (Bryman, 2012). No names of the informants were used, and explicit locations of the farmers are not being charted as the community is small and likelihood of dilemmas might occur within the community. However, those who were interviewed and hold a unique position in the geographical area of the research were aware that complete anonymity would be difficult. Sensitive material is therefore not quoted but used in a more general discussion.

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of me being impartial to the interviewee, their story, and their experience. However, it can be beneficial as trust and a personal connection has been established. Moreover, I speak Icelandic and that made it easier for the interviewees to share more profound information. However, translation within the research process might introduce bias, and therefore the relationship with the interviewees needs to be addressed (Temple and Young, 2004). That favoritism that can be identified as my commonality with the interviewees and that I have lived and worked in the area and the agricultural sector. The farmers did not have to explain all the small details that they might consider common sense and were able to express themselves more freely. Due to that, my translation also played a part in ‘filling in the blanks’ when transcribing and translating quotes. However, it is essential to keep as an unbiased perspective as possible, to protect the integrity of the research process. As a result, it is important that I as a researcher am aware of my influence on the interviewee. I am to understand the attitudes of the farmers and through which ideas these attitudes are built up by. It is therefore highly relevant to enable a flexible and reflective approach where ideas can be expressed and developed freely by the interviewee. Equally important is that I can easily adapt to where the interview is going and not steer the answers in any direction even though the interview itself must be steered so that relevant topics are covered.

5.5. Limitations and Covid-19 Statement

The limitations of this research are, firstly, that the sample size was moderate and therefore the results cannot, according to critiques of qualitative methods, be generalized for the whole agricultural sector in Iceland. However, as information from the interviews gradually became similar in content, as mentioned in the interview chapter above, it can be said that more interviews would have given similar data. The region that the research focused on is small in size and population, but it was chosen strategically as one of the themes and theories was understanding if there was an active agricultural cluster in the area or not and the area is one of the most agriculturally dense areas in Iceland. I chose not to take interviews with consumers as the aim of the research was to give the farmers narrative room in the academic field of geography. One can argue that if a consumer survey or other qualitative interviews would have been conducted, there could have been an opportunity for a comparison of the narratives of the farmers and then of the consumers and their behavior. Instead news articles and other data from social media were used to get an overview of the mindset of the average Icelandic consumer. Therefore, it can be assumed that the interviews presented a wide selection of the farming practices available in the municipality.

As the gathering of empirical data with the field study was conducted in late February and early March data collection for this study was not directly affected, as restrictions on travelling and social distancing due to COVID-19 became a reality only after my return to Stockholm, Sweden. However, the social support of other students while conducting the analysis and the writing itself presented challenges. Workshops in the program were conducted online through an online platform called Zoom6_{and as a result, the personal}

interaction is missing which can affect the mental state of a student during the writing

6_{Zoom is a video cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, collaboration, chat, and webinars}

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6.0 Results

This section will present the results from the empirical data gathered through qualitative interviews conducted during fieldwork in February and March of 2020. The research purpose was to identify the challenges and possibilities of farmers in Iceland within the clustered region of Fludir. The results will be sectioned into themes that were identified through coding. The themes appear in the following order: clustering, innovation, competitive and comparative advantages, regulations and import, food security and changing consumption patterns. Lastly the themes of the disconnect between farmers, policies, and consumers and the farmers discussion around sustainable and organic farming.

6.1 Clustering in Hrunamannahreppur

Although no formal clusters are in place in the Icelandic agricultural sector, other master’s students’ research in Iceland has pointed out the benefits of having such a cluster and that it might strengthen the sector on a local and global scale (Bjornsdottir, 2015; Gylfadottir, 2012). This research has supported those findings. All interviewees talked directly or indirectly about the advantages of having multiple farms in the same area, whether it was for innovative ideas, inspiration, or simply to lend a helping hand. C, who is a consultant in horticulture and former horticulture farmer, mentioned that the clustering effect was not intended or planned in any way, shape, or form. Instead, it happened naturally, at least in the horticulture sector. One of the main reasons for the flourishing of both the outdoor and indoor horticulture farms in the area is, as C mentioned, the unique access to geothermal water as well as cold water from the mountains. When the first person started to grow cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage outside in the fields, it sparked an interest for other farmers, both those who were already doing some farming as well as others who had no ties with it. That is what happened in the case of E, who was a teacher. During the summer, he started cultivating outdoor horticulture to earn an income while the schools were closed. This passion started from there, and it grew into building greenhouses to grow bell peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers. The reason for those species was that, as mentioned in the background chapter, there were only subsidies for those three species of vegetables. In other sectors of agriculture in the municipality, sheep and cattle farmers, A, B, F and G, agreed that the enthusiasm and innovative mindsets that locals showed in the last century enabled the development of the cluster in Hrunamannahreppur. As farms started forming all around, mostly dairy farms and mixed farming, farmers saw how successful it was to have cows and sell the dairy products, so it snowballed from there. B says it clearly with his statement:

I think there is always some sort of snowball effect, even though it's not solely economically then it is also mentally if you look back in time, at the turn of the century the cattle farmers here in the municipality and the surrounding counties went drastically down. Then there was two that started to build stables and barns, the third came in, and it ended up in ten farms in two years (B, interview, 26th February, 2020).

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interconnectivity of the localized cluster, a formal cluster gives, by definition, the farmers in this case, an advantage by having similar operation units nearby. This interconnectivity can mean services and knowledge centers that are intended to facilitate education and innovation as well as appropriate governmental institutions (Porter, 1998). As A, who runs the only beef cattle farm in the area, stated it is possible that because of the lack of regulations and frameworks it can be a challenge to have a farm that has distinct practices compared to other farms in the region. In terms of support, she said it matters tremendously, and it could make or break a farming practice:

…we could have perhaps kept this going if there had been more support from everyone, the municipality, the ones who purchase and other things like that, to be able to hire someone… we would have wanted support in that way because you cannot keep a company going on this amount of turnover rate… (A, interview, 26th_{February, 2020).}

This clearly portrays that structurally there is a lack of support from top-down as the municipality does not have the means to formulate all these institutions, innovation centers and other facilitators for a successful clustering framework. Then again, the community, along with the aid of the municipality, has launched initiatives to form associations that are tailored to each sector of agriculture in the municipality. There is the Agricultural Association of Hrunamannahreppur, and there are different associations for each sector; Sheep Breeding, Cattle Breeding, Horse Breeding, Soil Conservation, Forestry, and other associations related to sports, culture, and senior citizens to name a few (Fludir, 2020). The Agricultural Association has been instrumental in the work of farmers in the area according to the farmers. They rent out agricultural machinery and other heavy equipment to farmers. By doing that each farmer does not have to invest large amounts of funds into technical solutions and machinery that will only be used for a few weeks or days a year. The Agricultural association takes care of the maintenance and organization and planning of the rents instead which is highly beneficial for the farmers’ budgets and convenience as A, B, F, and G mention. As the participants talked about cooperation within the region and in the agricultural sector many possibilities and unused opportunities presented themselves. One of the main things that came up was the benefits of having more service in the area itself, to cut transportation time and as well for the well-being of the animals that go to slaughterhouses (abattoirs) as G said.

So maybe more could be optimized, e.g., in the transportation of animals and produce. Maybe it would be more efficient to have production and slaughterhouses on site instead of in Selfoss [which is approx. 50km away], opens the ability to sell more animals on foot (G, interview, 2nd_{March, 2020).}

Disconnected realities within Icelandic agriculture