How can future challenges and opportunities for small and medium-sized mountain farms be identified?
This workshop will share existing best practices by young people in mountain areas, highlighting the importance of agriculture in biodiversity conservation, in order to enhance the rich heritage of knowledge and tradition, the recovery of landraces and the promotion of local products while encouraging sustainable development in mountain areas. By producing high value mountain products with low environmental impact, small-scale mountain producers can respond to the market’s demand for “green” quality products and generate income in marginal areas.
Orto Tellinum is a rural micro company which aims to regenerate abandoned lands and create harmony between humans and the environment. The company produces wine using the traditional grapevine of Valtellina, located on mountain terrace vineyards, and deals with the cultivation of some landraces such as buckwheat, rye, “Rostrato Rosso di Valtellina” corn and blue Valtellina potatoes.
Furthermore, Orto Tellium shares its knowledge about heroic viticulture and cereal farming through periodic workshops.
The Sierra Morena – Jamón Ibérico Value Chain will be examined as part of the Horizon 2020 project MOVING (MOuntain Valorisation through INterconnectedness and Green growth) of the University of Córdoba. A high-quality product with its roots firmly in the social-ecological-system of the Dehesa area. A project that involved networking producers (farmers, foresters, grassland managers), civil society and innovation brokers/advisors.
Mahila Umang Producers Company Ltd. is a collective of self-help groups and producer-members engaged in promoting sustainable livelihoods through the establishment of micro enterprises. Umang also works to promote sustainable agriculture in the mountains by producing food, spices, tea, walnuts and honey, safely. The objective of this organization is to initiate projects directly controlled by producer members based on the principles of Fair Trade and guided by the concerns of ecology, economics and equity.
Francesco Fava is assistant professor at the Department of Environmental Science and Policy (ESP), University of Milan. He has over ten years of research and teaching experience in agroecology and remote sensing, with a specific focus on mountain and arid environments. He is passionate about innovation and entrepreneurship and collaborates actively with international institutions and private companies bridging research and practice towards sustainable agriculture.