The loss of some 3,000 jobs in the textile industry on the Inishowen peninsula is having a knock-on effect on the viability of small farms in the area. The jobs have been lost in recent years on the Co Donegal peninsula.
A report, to be launched on Monday by the Inishowen Partnership Company, aims to tackle the problems of low-income farm households. The Inishowen Smallholders Initiative makes a number of recommendations aimed at maintaining the rural population.
It emphasises the need to help farmers move from full-time to part-time farming and for education and training to be provided.
The report states that this section of Inishowen society has become increasingly marginalised in recent years, and their "future looks particularly bleak unless a radical new approach is found".
It was found that a majority of farmers on the peninsula were on a low income, and while incomes were supplemented in the past by partners working in textile factories, this was now much rarer.
Just under 70 per cent of farms in Inishowen are smaller than 20 hectares and up to one-third of all Inishowen farmers are considering leaving farming.
It was found that some households did not avail of existing services and entitlements because of the complexity of application procedures and a lack of information and advice.
There was also a reluctance to take chances in developing off-farm enterprises, in many cases because of a fear of losing benefits such as medical cards.
Because many families rely on a combination of farming and fishing, both sectors are being included in the initiative.
Inishowen Partnership Company has recently appointed a farm and family support officer, Mr Joe Sweeney. He said another problem in Inishowen was the very high unemployment rate of 17.5 per cent.
He said that arising from the report, a number of pilot projects were planned and one of these, an extension of the Back to Work scheme for small farmers, had already been agreed with the Government.
Under this scheme, farmers will qualify for social welfare entitlements for six years, getting full allowances for the first three years. This will give them an extra two years of entitlements beyond what is normally allowed.
Mr Sweeney said he believed this would encourage many younger men who had trained in different trades to become self-employed. It could also help reduce the numbers working in the black economy.
Specific training programmes for young farmers will also be set up. He said these could follow the model of a scheme in the North where young men were trained in skills such as metalwork and then given funding to start their own businesses. Such work, he said, could be combined with part-time farming.
He said a major challenge was to keep young people in rural communities. "If you look around at marts or any other gathering of farmers you can count on one hand the number of men under 30."
Other plans include the setting up of an organic centre to supply goods for a local market or for bigger outlets where there is an increased demand for organic produce. It is also recommended that women be encouraged to play a greater role in the "farming enterprise" and that they also be given assistance to enter the workforce.