Sustainable development in rural areas: The new model of social farming

Globalization in general and the recent changes in society (not to mention technological innovations), reinforce the need for a change in lifestyle and in production models based on the criteria of sustainability and ethics, in order to ensure a reduction of environmental impact. In recent years, due to the intensification of the rampant economic crisis that hit Europe in particular, but also in the western world parts of the population live in poverty. One of the potential solutions in an attempt to reduce these problems is the so-called “social farming”. Recently, with the progressive industrialization and expansion of urban areas, which has led to a decrease in both land and the workforce, capital remains the only factor on which we can act. In fact, the figure of the farmer has undergone many changes over the years due to the complex relationship between the company, territory, production processes and the socio-economic system. In this regard, one of the first factors of marginalization of the small farm, has been the outsourcing of some production processes past on to the food processing industry. As a result, the farmer - increasingly ousted from the market - has felt the need to adapt his presence, having the need to diversify production and - at the same time - be able to increase the corporate income by introducing other complementary activities to agriculture which remains the main economic resource. As a result we have the term “multifunctional agriculture” which covers all the functions ascribed to agriculture: from the environment to the socio-cultural, from tourist services to the educational and cultural services. The term “social”, however, refers to all those activities, actions, interventions related to the main agricultural activity, which directly involve the people belonging to vulnerable groups. The two most important expressions of social farming are: educational farms and holiday farms, which play an important function in the development of human resources because they involve all categories, young people, women and even the elderly, which represent historical memory and connection with the past. The farm capital, in particular, is a point of reference and stimulus for those social groups that live in a situation of any kind of hardship. Indeed, one of the main features is the creation of therapy and rehabilitation in order to promote social integration and employment for disadvantaged people. The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of agriculture as the sector, which as well as producing goods for the satisfaction of the basic needs of the individual, has two functions: the protection of the environment and the development of rural areas. With the help of social farming, in fact, the aim is to prevent depopulation and to enhance the cultural and historical heritage, through the involvement of vulnerable or disadvantaged groups, in the activity of production. From this point of view, therefore, the farmer becomes a social worker as he contributes to improving the quality of life as well as social welfare.