Using Collective Farming to Improve Farm Structures and Drive Generational Renewal in Spain

GARCIA-ALVAREZ-COQUE, JOSE-MARIA; PIÑEIRO, VERÓNICA

EuroChoices

Willey Online Library

Lugar: Banbury; Año: 2022 vol. 21 p. 35 - 42

Land abandonment and the lack of generational renewal in farming are serious issues in European agriculture with social, environmental and economic implications. This article reports on the recent experiences of joint cropland management (JCM) in Spain. These initiatives are based on the grouping of plots to achieve different objectives through social and organisational innovation. JCM involves three types of actor: landowners, cooperatives and the people who cultivate the land, who may or may not be landowners or members of the cooperative. Implementation of this strategy, which is being adopted by an increasing number of agri-food marketing cooperatives, requires substantial social capital. Therefore, collaboration between public and private actors is needed to generate and transfer knowledge on these initiatives. The Operational Group on Social Innovation in Land Management (GO_InnoLand) was created in 2020 to support JCM processes, which help young farmers who are setting up in the agricultural sector. JCM initiatives could be one way to prevent the abandonment of small-scale land plots and drive the demographic challenge. Public policies can support this strategy by enhancing social and organisational innovation, facilitating financial instruments, providing technical assistance, improving collaboration networks and linking landholders with new professionals.