Resilient Development of the Rural Area

“What could a Farm be?”

By Joachim Hofmann – Coordinator in the LEADER area Eisacktaler Dolomiten

One focus in the resilient development of rural areas is the diversification of agriculture.

The agricultural businesses in South Tyrol are often very small, almost all of them family businesses.

Agriculture is currently at a crossroads: many young farmers farm their farms on a sideline basis. When the farm is handed over from one generation to the next, the question often arises as to how the business should be continued when the older generation leaves the labour market.

One option is the development towards full-time employment and thus often also towards intensification of agriculture.

Many young farmers also like their current work, but at the same time they want to preserve and continue their farm, the heritage of their fathers, without having to sacrifice the quality of life for themselves and their families.

It is necessary to find new ways to enable an attractive management of our farms as a sideline or in the long run also lead to a new, modern form of full-time employment.

The muu-baa network is intended to help bring creative minds together and exchange ideas so that they fall on fertile ground and promote new forms of sustainable and resilient agriculture, especially in mountain regions.

I invite everyone to participate in the network and to contribute their own ideas or to search for partners in the network in order to try out new ideas. Pilot projects are always welcome as part of the LEADER programme!