Small Farm Strategies and Territorial Integration

Dear Colleagues,

European rural areas are populated mostly by small farms. Farms are defined as small in relation to limited resource endowments (land, herd, labor or capital), but they can be really understood only considering the sector and the contextual agrosystem conditions. They contribute to the production of food that is, later on, self-consumed or purchased by consumers, in both rural and (peri) urban areas. As they operate in rural environments, small farms are part of rural dynamics (e.g., economic, social, environmental) in connection to urban centers and provide everyday more recognized contributes to the local territories in terms of social, environmental, and economic integration.

This Special Issue hosts contributions on how small farms contribute to territorial integration in different ways:

• Economic integration. Small farms formally and informally integrate with markets in different ways by producing food, adequate to meet the (local and nonlocal) expectations and needs, in line with food traditions, local gastronomy, and culture. Moreover, they generate income for the household, food self-provisioning, and employment opportunities.
• Rural tourism. By creating opportunities for a sustainable, experiential, and multiseasonal quality tourism sector, small farms contribute to rural tourism supply systems. Multifunctionality and diversification of agriculture and agro-tourism are just a few examples.
• Social integration. Small farms play a role in the provision of “social” services by the farm, either implicitly or explicitly. The case of agricultural realities that perform a social function explicitly is defined as “social farms”. Social farming refers both to entrepreneurial or voluntary initiatives (i.e., promoted by associations), or by the public sector (e.g., for mental health services). All these realities pursue social purposes through the development of agricultural activities, in a broad sense (crops, breeding, transformation of products, farm holidays, sale of farm products, etc.), with the explicit aim of involving persons with special needs.
• Environmental integration. By contributing to the environment through the use and reproduction of ecosystem services, defined as the multiple benefits provided by ecosystems (i.e., life support, supply, regulation and cultural values).
• Digital integration. Digital technologies that can be a vehicle to addressing important and urgent economic, social, climatic, and environmental challenges facing the EU agri-food sector and rural areas. The role of small farms in digitalization, its characterization, and the multiple impacts on farming and rural areas is an important way toward territorial integration of rural areas.

This Special Issue will explore the topic of small farms and their integration with territorial dynamics also by offering explicit cases that can foster a dialogue between academics and other territorial stakeholders. Contributors to the Special Issue are requested to present their paper related to the topic, but they should also present a specific case illustrating an example of integration among a small farm and its territory.

Prof. Dr. Francesco Di Iacovo
Dr. Francesca Galli
Guest Editors

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• small farming
• socioeconomic integration
• ecosystem services
• rural tourism
• digitalization