Crofting: Cutting Edge Tradition

Crofting provides a resilient economic foundation for communities across the Highlands and Islands and offers many lessons for how Scotland can achieve a just transition.

For those not in the know, crofting is a form of land tenure unique to Scotland. It provides security of tenure and fair rents in return for the performance of certain ‘duties’, including living nearby and actively managing the land.

Often dismissed as a quaint cultural relic with little economic value and limited contemporary relevance, our recent analysis for the Crofting Commission shows exactly the opposite. We found that:

Each year crofting generates around £588 GVA/year for the Scottish economy and supports around 30,400 jobs.

More importantly, more than 80% of this value and 90% of these jobs are retained in the crofting counties.

The Crofting Workforce

This impact has little to do with what happens on the croft. It is a consequence of the distinct pattern of economic activity enabled by crofting.

Crofting is not a ‘job’ in the traditional sense, but rather a system that enables people to make a living from multiple sources. The macro implication of this is that collectively crofting families form the backbone of the labour force in the crofting counties. Without them many other industries would struggle to survive.

Few people make their living entirely from crofting. Around two thirds of crofters are either self-employed or have another job instead of or as well as crofting and few of them live alone. Around 80% of crofters live with at least one other person, and 6% of crofting families consist of at least five people.

Our analysis shows this equates to a crofting workforce of around 15,600 people. Across the crofting counties crofting families account for around 7% of the workforce. In some areas the proportion is much higher (see below).

The Crofting Multiplier

The economic value of the crofting workforce is substantial but is not just about the work crofters do. It’s also about the role they play in supporting other businesses.

This is most obvious in tourism. Around 13% of crofters operate tourist accommodation and 7% run some other kind of leisure business. By providing visitors with a place to stay and things to do, crofters bring people to the crofting counties who then spend money in other local businesses.

Crofters also help provide the critical mass needed to ensure some businesses remain viable, securing their own jobs alongside those of many of their neighbours. The role of crofters in the aquaculture sector for example is likely to be significant while the contribution they could play in unlocking renewable energy opportunities in the north of Scotland is as yet unknown.

The economic value of this is much greater than the impact of anything that happens on the croft. Our analysis suggests that:

Every £1 in direct impact generated by crofting generates £19 in indirect and wider economic benefits.

Far from being a drain on the public purse as is sometimes suggested, our analysis also suggests crofting delivers very good value for money.

Every £1 of public money invested in crofting generates £13 GVA for the Scottish economy.

Supporting Wellbeing

Impressive though this may sound, the real value of crofting is not economic.

Traditional crofting practices are the epitome of regenerative agriculture, helping maintain a rich mosaic of habitats and support biodiversity across the crofting counties. Crofting retains people in parts of Scotland that would otherwise struggle to retain a viable population. It does so while nurturing strong social bonds and family ties, a unique cultural identity and deep-rooted connections to the land.

All of this plays an important role in supporting individual and collective wellbeing and may help explain why people living in areas where crofting is concentrated consistently report higher levels of life satisfaction and happiness than elsewhere in Scotland.

Contemporary Relevance

The value generated by crofting is no accident. It is the consequence of a unique legislative framework that has maintained an effective balance between individual rights and collective responsibility for nearly 150 years.

The essence of the framework is simple, its impact is profound. There is much it can teach us about models of sustainable land use that can help Scotland achieve a just transition in the 21^st century.