Het Hazendonkje

In order to maintain their income farmers often need to develop their business and there are several ways to do so. Some farmers expand their farming scale, but in the rural area of the Alblasserwaard this was not an option for several reasons. An alternative way forward is multifunctional agriculture which serves social, environmental and consumer needs.

One such example is young farmer Matthijs Baan. Mr Baan was looking for ways to extend his agricultural business. He was seeking for a way to diversify his activities and make his business less dependent on agriculture. Market research helped him identify that establishing a professional Agricultural Day Care Centre was a new opportunity in the area. Using EAFRD support and professional advice by an architect he converted one of the farm buildings into the day care centre including a green and inspiring outdoors playground.