Are Public Subsidies to Encourage Young Farmers Effective? Case Study of a First-Time Farm Set Up by a Young Female Farmer in the Valencian Region of Spain

Beatriz Gilabert,Isabel Pla-Julián

doi:10.3390/su13169320

Abstract

Generational renewal and the incorporation of women into the rural world are fundamental for the sustainability and modernisation of the agricultural sector. Hence the special government protection granted to the sector, which appears in both European legislation on rural issues and in the global strategy of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Rural Development Goals involving a commitment to measures aimed at helping young farmers to set up agricultural holdings and especially at encouraging women to engage in farm management. In the case of Spain, this is nothing new, given that Law 35/2011 on the Shared Ownership of Agricultural Holdings became a veritable revolution in terms of gender in the rural world when it came into force. The results section discusses the practical application of funding for young farmers to start up an agricultural holding through a technical and economic study, and a case study of a first-time farm set up by a young female farmer. The main contribution of this work lies in answering two questions. The first one is to evaluate the efficiency of the subsidies for young people to set up farms in terms of offering a decent, stable livelihood for young men and women in Spain and the Valencian Region. The second one attempts to verify the effectiveness of both European and Spanish active public policies to encourae young men and women to join the agricultural sector.

Highlights

There is a clear priority given to young farmers by providing them with funding for setting up farms
To verify the effectiveness of the measures aimed at supporting young farmers in setting up their first farm, as established in Regulation 1305/2013, we performed a case study of a young female farmer setting up a farm for the first time to assess whether they are a viable alternative to providing a decent, stable livelihood for young women
2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, giving priority to measures for young farmers to set up agricultural holdings and to improve female incorporation to the rural world

Summary

Introduction

There is a clear priority given to young farmers by providing them with funding for setting up farms. In line with the fifth SDG and the Law on the Shared Ownership of Agricultural Holdings [5,6,7,8,9], there is a commitment to the empowerment of women, promoting their role in the management of agricultural holdings in order to achieve true equality between men and women in the rural world. If agriculture is perceived by young people as a job opportunity which can give them a decent livelihood, this could encourage young members of the working population to transfer from other productive industries to the agricultural sector In this sense, aid to help young farmers set up business could have a direct impact on mitigating the high unemployment rates affecting this group, and especially affecting women.

Methods

Results

Conclusion