The shades of green : migrants' contribution to EU agriculture : context, trends, opportunities, challenges

Despite agriculture being a strategic economic and policy domain for the European Union, rural areas in the EU suffer socio-economic marginalisation and desertification.Immigrants currently represent a key strategic asset in tackling the lack of a workforce, problems of generational renewal in agriculture and the abandonment of rural areas.The farming industry can absorb workforce relatively easily in comparison to other sectors, and the rural world holds the potential to accommodate important numbers of immigrants.Problems exist, though, when it comes to the living and working conditions and the rights of rural immigrant workers, and their related socio-economic integration and stabilisation.Efforts to improve these situations shall start from elaborating an integrated policy framework that enhances coherence between agriculture, migration and labour market domains.The paper proposes, as well, tailored initiatives and investments as a way to contribute to CAP 2020 Reform towards a smart, sustainable and inclusive rural world in the EU

Peer - Mediated Distributed Knowledge Management

Distributed Knowledge Management is an approach to knowledge management based on the principle that the multiplicity (and heterogeneity) of perspectives within complex organizations is not be viewed as an obstacle to knowledge exploitation, but rather as an opportunity that can foster innovation and creativity. Despite a wide agreement on this principle, most current KM systems are based on the idea that all perspectival aspects of knowledge should be eliminated in favor of an objective and general representation of knowledge. In this paper we propose a peer-to-peer architecture (called KEx), which embodies the principle above in a quite straightforward way: (i) each peer (called a K-peer) provides all the services needed to create and organize "local" knowledge from an individual's or a group's perspective, and (ii) social structures and protocols of meaning negotiation are introduced to achieve semantic coordination among autonomous peers (e.g., when searching documents from other K-peers). A first version of the system, called KEx, is imple-mented as a knowledge exchange level on top of JXTA

A Peer-to-Peer Architecture for Distributed Knowledge Management.

Most of the knowledge management systems of complex organizations are based on technological architectures that are in contradiction with the social processes of knowledge creation. In particular, centralized architectures are adopted to manage a process that is intrinsically distributed. In this paper, assuming a Distributed approach to Knowledge Management (DKM), is proposed that technological and social architectures must be reciprocally consistent. Moreover, in the domain of Knowledge Management, technological architectures should be designed in order to support the interplay between two qualitatively different processes: the autonomous management of knowledge of individuals and groups - here called Knowledge Nodes (KNs) -, and the coordination required in order to exchange knowledge among them. Finally a peer to peer architecture to support knowledge exchange across distributed and autonomous KNs is presented

Pastoralism, Uncertainty and Resilience: Global Lessons from the Margins

This short report describes the PASTRES (Pastoralism, Uncertainty and Resilience: Global Lessons from the Margins) project, its objectives and early implementation. PASTRES investigates the principles inspiring the strategies and thepractices applied by pastoralists to tackle and live with and through uncertainties. By engaging in a dialogue withother disciplines, we believe that such principles can be applied to other domains relevant for societal uncertainties,including migration governance, the management of critical infrastructure, financial regulation, epidemic controland others. The project started in late 2017 and this report provides some updates on its development

Review of Crossing boundaries: Legal and policy arrangements for cross-border pastoralism by Jonathan Davies, Claire Ogali, Lydia Slobodian, Guyo Roba, Razingrim Ouedraogo

Book details Jonathan Davies, Claire Ogali, Lydia Slobodian, Guyo Roba, Razingrim Ouedraogo Crossing boundaries: legal and policy arrangements for cross-border pastoralism FAO, IUCN, Rome, 2019 110 pp. Editors: Gregorio Velasco-Gil and Natasha Maru (Pastoralist Knowledge Hub of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) ISBN 978-92-5-131112-

Agro-silvo-pastoral systems in Italy: integration and diversification

The paper describes recent changes in pastoral systems in Italy and provides an assessment of current farming systems in marginal areas of the country, where extensive livestock rearing still represents an option. Despite public financial support, rural farming in marginal areas increasingly has to find its place within the wider society, integrate into wider markets, support employment and diversify income generation. Provision of environmental as well as recreational services is increasingly complementing quality food production. The heterogeneous Italian landscape provides important opportunities to better integrate crops, trees and livestock into increasingly sustainable agro-silvo-pastoral systems

High quality, high reliability : the dynamics of camel milk marketing in northern Kenya

In order to analyse the transformations faced by pastoralists in coping with the uncertainties of their livelihoods, this paper analyses the evolutions of the marketing of camel milk, which has turned from a local taboo into a critical asset for the pastoral communities of Isiolo, a county typically associated with the rearing of cattle. Camel milk marketing (CMM) challenges several assumptions about pastoral societies and their supposed embedding conservativeness, inefficiency and risk aversion. A high-reliability perspective has been instrumental in revealing the ongoing dynamics that are reconfiguring pastoral resource management and livelihood patterns in Isiolo. Through this approach, the management practices and contractual relationships that underpin CMM production and marketing have been explored, with a view to unveiling the rationale inspiring the networks through which camel milk is transacted, and the related socially-regulated arrangements and practices. The social and political embeddedness of CMM networks is central to their ability to adapt and function in constantly changing local conditions. The marketing of camel milk provides an intriguing insight into how pastoral systems are informed by a high-reliability approach to operating under conditions of volatility and uncertainty. Political economy matters will have a significant influence on the evolution of this important enterprise. Adequate investments in infrastructure and public facilities would be crucial to further develop CMM and to enable its operators to respond and adapt to local dynamics, with a view to fairly share the associated risks, costs and benefits.The writing of this article was funded by a European Research Council grant for the PASTRES project (Pastoralism, Uncertainties, Resilience: Global Lessons from the Margins) (contract 740342)

Greening on paper : does European agricultural policy work for pastoralists?

A Pastres paper analyses the policy landscape for pastoralists in Europe. The paper focuses on the impacts of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) on pastoralists and the implications for broader rural development and environmental management in the European Union

Assessing the policy frame in pastoral areas of Europe

Unlike other regions of the world, the policy framework in Europe is in principle favourable to extensive livestock farming. EU policies recognise the multiple values of pastoralism and its contributions in terms of cultural heritage, environmental management and territorial cohesion. Recognising that these public goods are not sustainable without remuneration, the EU supports pastoralists with direct and indirect measures, including subsidies. These are considered as forms of compensation and reward for producers operating in Less Favoured Areas and High Nature Value settings. However, over recent decades, the number of extensive livestock farms has declined sharply, generational renewal amongst pastoralists is scanty and mountainous, island, and inner territories all over Europe are undergoing processes of socio-economic and agro-ecological desertification. The outcomes of the CAP political and financial commitment in pastoral contexts are hence quite disappointing. Translating good intentions and societal appreciation into effective social facilities and economic returns appears to be a major challenge for policy makers and administrators across Europe. On the one hand, the European Green Deal and its ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy show high levels of ambition in reorienting agriculture and enhancing the transition to more sustainable food systems in Europe. On the other hand, the long-awaited reform of the Common Agricultural Policy has not addressed its fundamental inconsistencies in technical, administrative and political terms. In a policy framework also influenced by broader trade and political agreements, CAP measures are more likely to support intensification of livestock production, than to favour extensive pastoral systems. The EU institutional architecture and policy domain represent important drivers of uncertainty for European pastoralists, who must continually navigate through multiple, fragmented and sometimes conflicting measures, rules and requirements that seem ill-suited to their operating principles, strategies and needs.The writing of this paper was funded through a European Research Council Advanced Grant to PASTRES (Pastoralism, Uncertainty, Resilience: Global Lessons from the Margins), Grant number 740342

Migraciones pastorales y relevo generacional en el Mediterráneo

[EN] Important changes that have reconfigured the rural world in recent decades include the abandonment of inner and remote territories, and the growth of the immigrant workforce. Pastoralism provides an intriguing perspective on these processes, as it embodies the contradictions of an agricultural practice increasingly appreciated but decreasingly practiced. This work questions the contribution immigrant shepherds are making to the generational renewal of pastoralism in the Euro-Mediterranean context. The results point that their relevance in terms of generational renewal are limited, and mostly context specific.[ES] Entre los cambios más importantes que están reconfigurando el mundo rural destacan el abandono en los territorios más remotos, así como el aumento de la mano de obra inmigrante. El pastoralismo proporciona una perspectiva estimulante en estos procesos, pues convive con la contradicción de ser una práctica agrícola cada vez más apreciada pero que cada vez se practica menos. El presente trabajo examina cuál es la contribución de los pastores inmigrantes al relevo generacional en el contexto Euro-Mediterráneo. Los resultados indican que su relevancia en términos de relevo generacional es limitada y, en su mayor parte, depende largamente del contexto específico.The authors are thankful to all interviewees as well as to two anonymous reviewers. This work was funded by the TRAMed project, EU Marie Curie contract ES706/2014.Nori, M.; López-I-Gelats, F. (2020). Pastoral migrations and generational renewal in the Mediterranean. Economía Agraria y Recursos Naturales - Agricultural and Resource Economics. 20(2):95-118. https://doi.org/10.7201/earn.2020.02.05OJS9511820