Role of Small farming in food security and sustainability: a case study for Tuscany (IT)

The debate on the size of farming, and its relevance for policy purposes, has come back to the fore in recent years. The “International Year of Family Farming and Smallholder Farming”, held by FAO in 2014, aimed to raise the profile of family and smallholder farming worldwide”. During EXPO 2015, a debate followed on structural developments in agriculture and the implications for the competitiveness and sustainability of the agri-food sector and rural areas. Despite a declining number of agricultural holdings and a gradual increase in average farm size, the agricultural sector is largely composed by farms with less than 5 ha of agricultural land and a standard output below 4 000 euro per year. Beyond economic size and value of production, other criteria (e.g. labour units and family involvement can be adopted), alone or in combination, to define size of farming. Academic literature provides a mixed picture on weather a declining number of farms, and a gradual increase in size should be welcomed or contrasted. Oppositional arguments contrasting smaller and larger farm structures with respect to sustainability and food and nutrition security, are nourished by the lack of sufficient or unambiguous scientific evidence. A first line of thought stresses the distinctiveness of smaller farms in delivering food security and sustainability (Rabinowicz, 2014) and the capacity of small farms to mobilize resources additional to those procured through market exchange (van der Ploeg, 2013). A second line of thought considers size as a nonrelevant criterion to assess the performance on food security and sustainability (OECD, 2005), supporting the view on steering behaviours oriented towards improved sustainability, regardless of size. Dualistic debates often focus on some aspects of sustainability and neglect others (Kirwan et al. 2017) or overlook the importance of complementarity between complex agro-food systems and territoriality, as local context largely affects what structural change is desirable at territorial level (Darnhofer et al. 2010). This contribution presents the conceptual and analytical framework adopted in a research project named SALSA, “Small farms, small food businesses and sustainable food and nutrition security (FNS)”, and provides an illustration on one of the 35 reference regions selected. The analysis considers Lucca province in Tuscany and aims at generating preliminary insights in relation to the role of small farms in food and nutrition security

I caratteri morfotipologici dei paesaggi rurali

Il contributo al libro, illustra i concetti chiave su cui si è basato lo studio del paesaggio rurale portato avanti dalla IV invariante, quali la considerazione del valore patrimoniale e di bene collettivo del paesaggio agrario, la necessità di trovare un’articolazione virtuosa del rapporto tra tutela del paesaggio e attività agricola, il problema fondamentale di quali regole, caratteri ed elementi debbano e possano essere conservati o, più spesso, riprodotti in modo innovativo. Tra questi, si individuano tre ordini di fattori come caratteri identitari del paesaggio rurale toscano la cui riproduzione non solo non va a detrimento delle attività imprenditoriali ma può offrire loro ulteriori vantaggi in termini di multifunzionalità: 1) un rapporto stretto e coerente tra territorio agricolo e sistema insediativo; 2) la presenza di un’infrastruttura rurale di tipo multifunzionale; 3) la diversificazione degli usi del suolo a scala ridotta (dell’unità poderale o dell’azienda agricola) posta alla base della biodiversità del territorio. Nel contributo, si vuole evidenziare il potenziale ruolo che esercita il paesaggio agrario nel fornire servizi eco-sistemici (MAE, 2005) e, al tempo stesso il ruolo che gli agricoltori possono avere nel garantire l’erogazione di tali servizi attraverso le modalità di gestione delle attività produttive sul territorio rurale. Tali modalità di gestione, quando orientate verso un’agricoltura eco-compatibile e multifunzionale, assumono una valenza fondamentale nel garantire la riproduzione nel tempo di una paesaggio agrario (rurale) ben infrastrutturato che, oltre a garantire la coerenza rispetto ai valori storico- identitari e culturali delle “territorialità” toscane, ha effetti positivi sul piano ecologico, nel preservare la biodiversità, nel garantire il presidio idrogeologico, nel rafforzare l’immagine legata alla qualità e al valore dei prodotti agroalimentari, nel migliorare l’aspetto estetico – percettivo del territorio e, quindi, aumentare il gradimento dei cittadini e dei turisti

Small Farming role to food and nutrition security in food systems: a case study in Tuscany

The debate on structural change in farming and the implications for the competitiveness and sustainability of the agri-food sector and the rural areas has revived in recent years (DG Agri, 2015). Notably, the “International Year of Family and Smallholder Farming” was aimed at “focusing attention on family and smallholder farming worldwide, and their significant role in eradicating hunger and poverty, providing food security and nutrition, improving livelihoods, managing natural resources, protecting the environment, and achieving sustainable development, especially in rural areas” (FAO, 2014). Despite European agriculture being characterized by a declining number of agricultural holdings and an increase in farm size, the agricultural sector is largely composed by farms with less than 5 ha of agricultural land and a standard output below 4 000 euro per year (Eurostat, 2015). A commonly agreed definition of small farms does not exist (EC, 2011), as different criteria can be referred to, including economic size, value of production, labor units and family involvement (Hubbard, 2009). Smaller farms are often operated as family-run businesses, passed through generations, and most labor input in agriculture derives from members of the family. Often, small family farms turn to off-farm employment, and many more receive social welfare transfers (i.e. pensions). There is recognition that small farms make up an important share of total agricultural employment and play an important role in many rural economies particularly in more fragile and disadvantaged regions (EC, 2014). There is a call for research aimed at improving the understanding on the role of small farms and food businesses in food and nutrition security and their resilience to shocks in an increasingly complex and uncertain world (HLPE, 2013; FAO, 2006). The connections between family farming, small farms and food and nutrition security – in the dimensions of availability, access, utilization and stability – fairly documented in developing countries (Riesgo et al. 2016), and in new member states (Davidova, 2012), are recognized also by the European Commission (EC, 2014). This contribution develops within the H2020 research project SALSA, “Small farms, small food businesses and sustainable food and nutrition security”, which addresses the question: what is the distinctive role of small(er) farms in relation to food and nutrition security in different regions? This paper presents the conceptual framework adopted in the project and an illustration in one of the regions covered by the research

Plastic litter in sediments from a marine area likely to become protected (Aeolian Archipelago's islands, Tyrrhenian sea)

This research aims to define for the first time levels and patterns of different litter groups (macro, meso and microplastics) in sediments from a marine area designed for the institution of a new marine protected area (Aeolian Archipelago, Italy). Microplastics resulted the principal group and found in all samples analyzed, with shape and colours variable between different sampling sites. MPs levels measured in this study are similar to values recorded in harbour sites and lower than reported in Adriatic Sea, while macroplastics levels are notably lower than in harbor sites. Sediment grain-size and island extent resulted not significant in determining levels and distribution of plastic debris among islands. In the future, following the establishment of the MPA in the study area, these basic data will be useful to check for potential protective effects on the levels and distribution of plastic debris

Food system integration of olive-oil-producing small farms in Southern Europe

International audienceThis study aims to identify the various forms of integration of olive-oil-producing small farms (OSFs) into food systems in four Southern European regions, as well as to identify the most beneficial strategies of integration. Drawing on data from the SALSA Project, the study has found that besides self-provision, OSFs are engaged in multiple types of integration, including reciprocity relations as well as relations with informal and formal markets. Multiple strategies with synergistic effects co-exist at the farm/farm household level. However, specific territorial resources are partially mobilized by actors’ strategies; consequently, olive oil identities are valorized on the market to some extent, but less so through positive externalities. Therefore, the unrealized potential of localization of food systems in which OSFs operate is identified

BIOBLITZ 2013-2014 OASI DI SAN FELICE

The growing interest in emerging environmental crisis has increased the level of public attention and the willingness to take part in participatory science projects, commonly defined with the term \u201cCitizen Science\u201d. This phenomenon can be recorded globally in many national contexts, with a prevalence in anglophone and more industrialized countries. In the biodiversity sector, the growing demand for public involvement has been declined in many different ways, with solutions aimed at providing cognitive and participatory tools. Among these, one of the best known is the BioBlitz: a 24-hour event held in a specific place with the aim of listing as many living species as possible. This work presents the data collected during the first two BioBlitzes organized by the Maremma Natural History Museum in 2013 and 2014. Both were made in the area of the \u200b\u200b San Felice Oasis, near the terminal part of the San Leopoldo ditch. During the BioBlitz, data collected attested the presence of 627 different taxonomic entities, of which 527 were identified at the level of species and 12 at the level of subspecies. The rest were identified at higher taxonomic levels. Eleven alien species, one endemic species, 33 species protected by national and international laws and / or directives and 13 species at risk of extinction were identified