Evolution of Farming Systems in the Mediterranean High Mountain: The Case of the Alpujarra Alta (Spain)
1
Department of Agricultural Economics, Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IFAPA), 18080 Granada, Spain
2
Department of Economic of Food Value Chain, Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IFAPA), 18080 Granada, Spain
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2019, 11(3), 704; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11030704
Received: 7 November 2018 / Revised: 24 December 2018 / Accepted: 11 January 2019 / Published: 29 January 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected Papers from the 2nd International Conference on Transitions in Agriculture and Rural Society. The Global Challenges of Rural History)
In mountainous Mediterranean areas, even at high elevations, the landscapes are generally strongly transformed by humans. Agriculture is a key factor in this because, until very recent times, farming has been the main occupation of its inhabitants and has dominated their history and culture. This study examines the evolution of agroecosystems in the Alpujarra Alta (a set of mountain valleys and ravines, located in south-eastern Spain, within the Penibetic Range), from the Neolithic revolution and the Roman period until the present emphasizing the eight centuries under Muslim rule and the serious agrarian crisis induced by the expulsion of the Moorish from the area in the last third of the 16th century. This provoked profound transformations leading to the so-called “evolved farming system” in the early nineteenth century. This system continued until the middle of the twentieth century, when a massive rural exodus, prompted by the industrialization of the country, made farming unfeasible, triggering a phase of gradual system degradation. Finally, the current situation is discussed, resulting from the degradation of the established system as well as from new opportunities arising from the processes of endogenous local development induced in the area during the last quarter of a century.
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Keywords:
agrarian systems; high mountain; Alpujarra Alta; endogenous development; agrarian history; farming evolution
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MDPI and ACS Style
Calatrava, J.; Sayadi, S. Evolution of Farming Systems in the Mediterranean High Mountain: The Case of the Alpujarra Alta (Spain). Sustainability 2019, 11, 704. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11030704
AMA Style
Calatrava J, Sayadi S. Evolution of Farming Systems in the Mediterranean High Mountain: The Case of the Alpujarra Alta (Spain). Sustainability. 2019; 11(3):704. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11030704
Chicago/Turabian StyleCalatrava, Javier; Sayadi, Samir. 2019. "Evolution of Farming Systems in the Mediterranean High Mountain: The Case of the Alpujarra Alta (Spain)" Sustainability 11, no. 3: 704. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11030704
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