The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) are undertaking an important study to investigate the mental health impacts on farmers and farm workers from flooding and drought events in England.
Whilst there is evidence from other countries that floods and droughts have an impact on the mental health of the agricultural community, there is a gap in knowledge for the UK. As part of this work the UKHSA have launched an online survey seeking feedback from farmers or farmworkers whose farms have been impacted by flooding or drought in England.
As a member of the Rural Flood Resilience Partnership (RFRP), ACRE is promoting this critically important survey to all members, because the results will fill a critically important evidence gap and add weight to ensuring that decision making takes proper account of the challenges rural communities face in the event of flooding the drought.
The survey, available here, takes 15-20 minutes, is anonymous (unless you decide otherwise) and is open until 28 February 2025. Please share the details of the survey on to the communities, particularly those impacted by previous flood events. Any farmers or farmworkers across England are welcome to complete the questionnaire.
The project is being led by the Extreme Events & Health Protection (EEHP) team at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). The research is funded through the Environmental Change & Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU2), which is run in conjunction with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).
Organisations and groups including the National Farmers Union (NFU) Farming Community Network (FCN), National Flood Forum (NFF) and National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs (NFYFC) are all supporting the distribution of information relating to the questionnaire survey.
