Social farming in high mountain regions: The case of the Aosta Valley in Italy

Titolo Rivista Economia agro-alimentare
Autori/Curatori Erika Fazari, Dario Musolino
Anno di pubblicazione 2023 Fascicolo 2022/3
Lingua Inglese Numero pagine 33 P. 1-33 Dimensione file 0 KB
DOI 10.3280/ecag2022oa14053
Il DOI è il codice a barre della proprietà intellettuale: per saperne di più clicca qui

Vedi l'articolo Scarica l'articolo open access

FrancoAngeli è membro della Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA)associazione indipendente e non profit per facilitare (attraverso i servizi tecnologici implementati da CrossRef.org) l’accesso degli studiosi ai contenuti digitali nelle pubblicazioni professionali e scientifiche

This paper investigates and analyses social farming in the Aosta Valley, a tiny Italian mountain region in the Alps. It aims to highlight the features of social farming in this region, focusing on the social mission and economic sustainability.The paper first presents the literature on social farming, focusing on marginal and remote areas, and illustrating the main characteristics of Italian social farms. Secondly, it focuses on the findings coming from a qualitative investigation of three case studies of Valdostan social farms based on data collected from semi-structured direct interviews. The analyses reveal that social farming in the Aosta Valley fulfils a crucial social mission in areas with poor accessibility to social services.It is economically sustainable, basing its business model on the environmental and agricultural resources typical of high mountain regions.

Keywords:; Social farming; High mountain region; Disabled people; Sustainability; Organic farming; aosta valley

  1. Borgi, M., Collacchi, B., Correale, C., Marcolin, M., Tomasin, P., Grizzo, A., Orlich, R., & Cirulli, F. (2020). Annuario Istituto Superiore Sanità, 56(2), 206-214.
  2. Baldazzi, B., Morricone, M., Talucci, V., & Ungaro, P. (2016). L’impatto turistico nelle regioni italiane: un indicatore composito di attrattività e sostenibilità turistica. In: F. Mazzola, R. Nisticò (Eds.), Le Regioni Europee. Politiche per la coesione e strategie per la competitività. Milan: FrancoAngeli.
  3. Barnaud, C., & Couix, N. (2020). The multifunctionality of mountain farming: Social constructions and local negotiations behind an apparent consensus. Journal of Rural Studies, 73, 34-45. DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2019.11.012.
  4. Bassi, I., Nassivera, F., & Piani, L. (2016). Social Farming: a proposal to explore the effects of structural and relational variables on social farm results. Agricultural and Food Economics, 4, 13. DOI: 10.1186/s40100-016-0057-6.
  5. Biernacki, P., & Waldorf, D. (1981). Snowball Sampling: Problems and Techniques of Chain Referral Sampling. Sociological Methods & Research, 10(2), 141-163. DOI: 10.1177/004912418101000205.
  6. Borsotto, P., Gaito, M., Papaleo, A., De Vivo, C., Ascani, M., Ricciardi, G., & Guccione, G.D. (2019). An exploratory study on the construction of networks in social farming. Economia agro-alimentare / Food Economy, 21(2), 481-506. DOI: 10.3280/ECAG2019-002015.
  7. Brix, T., Gal, M., Impérial, A., Perruchon, J.P., Roullet, S., & Vassallo, M. (2013). Solidaritè et Subsidiaritè en Vallèe d’Aoste. Une symbiose seculaire. Edizioni Fondazione Comunitaria della Valle d’Aosta.
  8. Carbone, A., Gaito, M., & Senni, S. (2009). Consumer Attitudes toward Ethical Food: Evidence from social farming in Italy. Journal of Food Products Marketing, 15(3), 337-350. DOI: 10.1080/10454440902925831.
  9. Cardano, M., & Ortalda, F. (2016). Metodologia della ricerca psicologica. Metodi quantitativi, qualitativi e misti. Torino: UTET Università.
  10. Chmielinski, P., Faccilongo, N., Fiore, M., & La Sala, P. (2018). Design and implementation of the Local Development Strategy: a case study of Polish and Italian Local Action Groups in 2007-2013. Studies in Agricultural Economics, 120(1), 25-31. DOI: 10.7896/j.1726.
  11. Corbetta, P. (2015). La Ricerca Sociale: Metodologia e Tecniche. Le Tecniche Qualitative. Bologna, Italy: il Mulino.
  12. CREA - Centro Politiche e Bioeconomia (2018). Rapporto Sull’agricoltura Sociale in Italia. Ministero Delle Politiche Agricole Alimentari e Forestali, Rete Rurale Nazionale, Rome, Italy. -- Retrieved from: www.reterurale.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/18108 (accessed on 21 July 2022).
  13. Dalla Torre, C., Ravazzoli, E., Dijkshoorn-Dekker, M., Polman, N., Melnykovych, M., Pisani, E., Gori, F., Da Re, R., Vicentini, K., & Secco, L. (2020). The role of agency in the emergence and development of social innovations in rural areas. Analysis of two cases of social farming in Italy and the Netherlands. Sustainability, 12(11), 4440. DOI: 10.3390/su12114440.
  14. Dell’Olio, M., Hassink, J., & Vaandrager, L. (2017). The development of social farming in Italy: A qualitative inquiry across four regions. Journal of Rural Studies, 56, 65-75. DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2017.09.006.
  15. Dessein, J. (2008). Proceedings of the Community of Practice Farming for Health, 6-9th November. Farming for Health. ILVO, Merelbeke, Belgium.
  16. Dessein, J., Bock, B.B., & de Krom, M.P. (2013). Investigating the limits of multifunctional agriculture as the dominant frame for Green Care in agriculture in Flanders and The Netherlands. J. Rural Stud., 32, 50 e 59.
  17. Di Iacovo, F., & O’Connor, D. (2009). Supporting Policies for Social Farming in Europe: Progressing Multifunctionality in Responsive Rural Areas. Firenze, Italy: ARSIA, Agenzia Regionale per lo Sviluppo e l’Innovazione nel settore Agricoloforestale.
  18. Di Iacovo, F. (2020). Social Farming Evolutionary Web: from Public Intervention to Value Co-Production. Sustainability, 12(13), 5269. DOI: 10.3390/su12135269.
  19. Di Iacovo, F., Moruzzo, R., & Rossignoli, C.M. (2017). Collaboration, knowledge and innovation toward a welfare society: The case of the Board of Social Farming in Valdera (Tuscany), Italy. The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 23(4), 289-311.
  20. Di Iacovo, F., Moruzzo, R., Rossignoli, C., & Scarpellini, P. (2014). Transition management and social innovation in rural areas: Lessons from social farming. The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 20(3), 327-347. DOI: 10.1080/1389224X.2014.887761.
  21. Dijkstra, L., & Poelman, H. (2018). Regional typologies overview. Statistics Explained. Eurostat.
  22. Elings, M., & Hassink, J. (2008). Green Care Farms, A Safe Community Between Illness or Addiction and the Wider Society.
  23. ESPON 2020 (2018). Transnational Observation. Fighting rural depopulation in Southern Europe. -- Retrieved from: www.espon.eu/sites/default/files/attachments/af-espon_spain_02052018-en.pdf (accessed on 21 July 2022).
  24. FAO (2015). Technical Workshop: The Implications of social farming for Rural Poverty Reduction, 15 December 2014. Final Report. -- Retrieved from: www.fao.org/3/a-i5148e.pdf (accessed on 02 June 2021).
  25. Finuola, R., & Pascale, A. (2018). L’agricoltura sociale nelle politiche pubbliche. Ministero Delle Politiche Agricole Alimentari e Forestali, Rete Rurale Nazionale, Rome, Italy.
  26. Galardi, M., Filugelli, L., Moruzzo, R., Riccioli, F., Mutinelli, F., Espinosa Diaz, S., & Contalbrigo, L. (2022). Challenges and Perspectives of Social Farming in North-Eastern Italy: The Farmers’ View. Sustainability, 14(14), 8390.
  27. Genova, A., Maccaroni, M., & Viganò, E. (2020). Social Farming: Heterogeneity in Social and Agricultural Relationships. Sustainability, 12(12), 4824. DOI: 10.3390/su12124824.
  28. Giarè, F. (2012). Coltivare salute: agricoltura sociale e nuove ipotesi di welfare. Rome, Italy: Inea.
  29. Giarè, F., & Macrì, M. (Eds.) (2012). La valutazione delle azioni innovative di agricoltura sociale. INEA. -- Retrieved from: http://dspace.crea.gov.it/bitstream/inea/513/1/SE5-2013-23.pdf (accessed on 21 July 2022).
  30. Giarè, F., Borsotto, P., & Signoriello, I. (2018). Social farming in Italy. Analysis of an «inclusive model». Italian Review of Agricultural Economics, 73(3), 89-105. DOI: 10.13128/REA-25107.
  31. Goodman, L.A. (2011). Comment: On Respondent-Driven Sampling and Snowball Sampling in Hard-to-Reach Populations and Snowball Sampling Not in Hardto-Reach Populations. Sociological Methodology, 41, 347-353. -- www.jstor.org/stable/41336926.
  32. Gramm, V., Torre, C.D., & Membretti, A. (2020). Farms in Progress-Providing Childcare Services as a Means of Empowering Women Farmers in South Tyrol, Italy. Sustainability, 12(2), 467. DOI: 10.3390/su12020467.
  33. Gramm, V., Hoffman, C., & Cattivelli, V. (2019). Transmitting and Transforming (Agri)-Cultural Values of Mountain Farming: Farm-Based Educational Services in South Tyrol. Mountain Research and Development, 39(4), 21-28. DOI: 10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-19-00009.1.
  34. Gretter, A., Dalla Torre, C., Maino, F., & Omizzolo, A. (2019). New Farming as an Example of Social Innovation Responding to Challenges of Inner Mountain Areas of Italian Alps. Journal of Alpine Research - Revue de géographie alpine, 107-2. DOI: 10.4000/rga.6106.
  35. Guirado, C., Valldeperas, N., Tulla, A. F., Sendra, L., Badia, A., Evard, C., … & Vera, A. (2017). Social farming in Catalonia: Rural local development, employment opportunities and empowerment for people at risk of social exclusion. Journal of Rural Studies, 56, 180-197.
  36. Hassink, J., & Van Dijk, M. (2006). Farming for Health: Green-Care Farming Across Europe and the United States of America. Berlin, Germany: Springer Science & Business Media.
  37. Hassink, J. (2009). Social Farming across Europe: Overview. In: F. Di Iacovo & D. O’Connor (Eds.), Supporting Policies for Social Farming in Europe: Progressing Multi-Functionality in Responsive Rural Areas (pp. 21-42). Firenze, Italy: Arsia.
  38. Hassink, J., Hulsink, W., & Grin, J. (2016). Entrepreneurship in agriculture and healthcare: different entry strategies of care farmers. Journal of Rural Studies, 43, 27 e 39.
  39. Hassink, J., Agricola, H., Veen, E.J., Pijpker, R., de Bruin, S.R., Meulen, HABvd., Plug, L.B. (2020). The Care Farming Sector in The Netherlands: A Reflection on Its Developments and Promising Innovations. Sustainability, 12(9), 3811. DOI: 10.3390/su12093811.
  40. Hemingway, A., Ellis-Hill, C., & Norton, E. (2016). What does care farming provide for clients? The views of care farm staff, NJAS - Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences, vol. 79, pp. 23-29. DOI: 10.1016/j.njas.2016.09.001.
  41. Hine, R. (2008). Care farming: bringing together agriculture and health. ECOS, 29, 42-51.
  42. Hine, R., Peacock, J., & Pretty, J. (2008). Care farming in the UK: contexts, benefits and links with therapeutic communities. International Journal of Therapeutic Communities, 29(3), 245-260.
  43. Hudcová, E., Chovanec, T., & Moudry, J. (2018). Social Entrepreneurship in Agriculture, a Sustainable Practice for Social and Economic Cohesion in Rural Areas: The Case of the Czech Republic. European Countryside, 10(3), 377-397. DOI: 10.2478/euco-2018-0022.
  44. Katonane, K.J., Varga, E., & Nemes, G. (2016). Understanding the process of social innovation in rural regions: some Hungarian case studies. Studies in Agricultural Economics, 118(1), 1-8. DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.234967.
  45. Knapik, W. (2018). The innovative model of Community-based social farming (CSF). Journal of Rural Studies, 60, 93-104. DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2018.03.008.
  46. Lanfranchi, M., Giannetto, C., Abbate, T., & Dimitrova, V. (2015). Agriculture and the social farm: Expression of the multifunctional model of agriculture as a solution to the economic crisis in rural areas. Bulgarian Journal of Agricultural Science, 21(4), 711-718.
  47. Leck, C., Evans, N., & Upton, D. (2014). Agriculture – Who cares? An investigation of ‘care farming’ in the UK. Journal of Rural Studies, 34, 313-325. DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2014.01.012.
  48. López-i-Gelats, F., Milán, M.J., & Bartolomé, J. (2011). Is farming enough in mountain areas? Farm diversification in the Pyrenees. Land Use Policy, 28(4), 783-791. DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2011.01.005.
  49. Louvin, R. (2012). Un bene comune tra pubblico e privato. Aosta: Le Château Edizioni.
  50. Moriggi, A. (2019). Exploring enabling resources for place-based social entrepreneurship: A participatory study of Green Care practices in Finland. Sustainability Science, 15, 437-453. DOI: 10.1007/s11625-019-00738-0.
  51. Musolino, D., Crea, V., & Marcianò, C. (2018). Being Excellent Entrepreneurs in Highly Marginal Areas: The Case of the Agri-Food Sector in the Province of Reggio Calabria. European Countryside, 10(1), 38-57. DOI: 10.2478/euco-2018-0003.
  52. Musolino, D., Distaso, A., & Marcianò, C. (2020). The Role of Social Farming in the Socio-Economic Development of Highly Marginal Regions: An Investigation in Calabria. Sustainability, 12(13), 5285. DOI: 10.3390/su12135285.
  53. Musolino, D., & Silvetti, A. (2020). Are Mountain Areas Attractive for Investments? The Case of the Alpine Provinces in Italy. European Countryside, 12, 469-493. DOI: 10.2478/euco-2020-0025.
  54. Nazzaro, C., Uliano, A., & Marotta, G. (2021). Drivers and Barriers towards Social Farming: A Systematic Review. Sustainability, 13(24), 14008. DOI: 10.3390/su132414008.
  55. O’Connor D., Lai M., & Watson, S. (2010). Overview of Social Farming and Rural Development Policy in Selected EU Member States. NRN Joint Thematic Initiative on Social Farming, European Communities -- http://enrd.ec.europa.eu/enrd-static/fms/pdf/A9746FA3-0D7E-1772-5CC7-11217C8EC059.pdf.
  56. Osservatorio Nazionale sulla salute nelle regioni italiane (2019). Rapporto Osservasalute 2019. -- Retrieved from: https://osservatoriosullasalute.it/osservasalute/rapporto-osservasalute-2019 (accessed on 21 July 2022).
  57. Pociute-Sereikiene, G., Kriauciunas, E., & Ubareviciene, R. (2014). Peripheralisation trends in rural territories: the case of Lithuania. Studies in Agricultural Economics, 116(3), 122-130. DOI: 10.7896/j.1421.
  58. Rete Rurale Nazionale 2014-2020 (2019). Bioreport 2017-2018. L’agricoltura Biologica in Italia, Rome, Italy. -- Retrieved from: www.reterurale.it/Bioreport201718 (accessed on 21 July 2022).
  59. Silverman, D. (2013). Doing qualitative research: a practical handbook. London: Sage Publications.
  60. Stake, R.E. (1995). The Art of Case Study Research. Thousand Oaks, CA, USA: Sage.
  61. Sempik, J., Hine, R., & Wilcox, D. (Eds.) (2010). Green care: a conceptual framework. COST 866, Green Care in Agriculture. Centre for Child and Family Research, Loughborough University, Loughborough.
  62. Sempik J., Rickhuss C., & Beeston A. (2014). The effects of social and therapeutic horticulture on aspects of social behaviour. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 77(6), 313-319.
  63. Tulla, A.F., Vera, A., Badia, A., Guirado, C., & Valldeperas, N. (2014). Rural and regional development policies in Europe: social farming in the common strategic framework (Horizon 2020). J. Urban Regional Analysis, VI(1), 35e52.
  64. Tulla, A.F., Guirado, C., Badia, A., Vera, A., Valldeperas, N., & Evard, C. (2015). La agricultura social a Catalunya. Uma doble alternativa: desenvolupament local i ocupaciò de col lectius em risc d’exclusiò social. Quad. Agrar., 38, 23 e 49, Juny.
  65. Yin, R.K. (2009). Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Los Angeles, CA, USA: Sage.

  • Social Farming in EU from Legal to Sociological Perspective: Developing European Solution Georg Miribung, in Laws /2024 pp.62
    DOI: 10.3390/laws13050062

Erika Fazari, Dario Musolino, Social farming in high mountain regions: The case of the Aosta Valley in Italy in "Economia agro-alimentare" 3/2022, pp 1-33, DOI: 10.3280/ecag2022oa14053