New approaches to sustainable rural development: Social farming as an opportunity in Europe?

Abstract

The so-called "Green Revolution" has marginalized and depopulated many rural areas, but economic diversication has emerged since the 1980s. Consumer appreciation for organic farming and proximity sourcing has increased, and farmers have responded to this market. Since 2008 the economic crisis has led to importation of low-quality food products at an unsustainable level of energy costs, and the lack of employment opportunity has led people to seek economic opportunities in the countryside, producing foods with ecological criteria for short food supply chains. Within this scenario, Social Farming (SF) has appeared as a multifunctional innovative strategy. It gives a return to society through the production and processing of agricultural products by incorporating direct social benets in employment, training, and therapy or rehabilitation of groups at risk of social exclusion. SF offers social cohesion, empowerment of vulnerable groups, local development in rural and peri-urban settings, and an equitable balance between revenues and costs to society.

Spaces for Collaborative Arrangements as Social Sustainability in Rural Accommodation in Brazil: Pouso dos Paula

“…Maleki [40] listed basic criteria for ensuring social sustainability in rural Iran, which includes security, population, social collaboration, health, leisure, employment, and education. Tulla et al [41] proposed social agriculture as an opportunity for social sustainability for all of Europe. Nirathron and Whitford [42] studied the political influence on social and economic sustainability in rural areas of Thailand and Australia.…”

Could Social Farming be a Strategy to Support Food Sovereignty in Europe?

“…In all cases, the use of agricultural holdings is a distinguishing feature, especially with CF and SF. Another important factor, in addition to improving the participants' quality of life, is the territorial relevance of SF [13], given that the practices contribute to the creation of new strategies of local development, new alliances between agriculture and socio-health care, and new models of care and general wellbeing. Furthermore, SF is a stimulus that can make new services available to the rural population, for whom they may be much less accessible than in urban areas, as well as supporting high-quality, ecological proximity agriculture, with the added value of social justice [61].…”

“…with a longer tradition of ecological practices [12]. One significant feature of SF projects in the countryside is close relationships with other actors in the territory who are trying to attain sustainable rural development [13].…”

La agricultura social en Cataluña: diagnosis de un fenómeno emergente

“…En este sentido, esta práctica subyace como una estrategia para generar economías locales de nueva creación, más centradas en las especificidades, las potencialidades y las oportunidades de cada territorio, que en las tendencias y la conectividad con la economía global (Estela, 2015). Es por eso que la AS se presenta con diferentes formas en distintos territorios, heterogeneidad resultado de las estrategias de resiliencia de cada territorio para dar respuesta a sus retos y adaptarse a los cambios (Tulla et al, 2017).…”