Levers and Obstacles of Effective Research and Innovation for Organic Food and Farming in Italy

Stefano Canali,Mariangela Diacono,Alessandra Trinchera,Luca Colombo,Daniele Antichi,Simona Cristiano,Francesco Riva,Paola Migliorini,Valentina Ferrante,Raffaele Zanoli

doi:10.3390/agronomy10081181

Abstract

The objectives of this paper are to present the dynamic of organic food and farming (OFF) research and innovation, to outline challenges in deploying programs and accessing funding, and to define key actions to foster the development of tailored quality research on organic farming in Italy. The baseline starts from the main outcomes that emerged during the World Café held in the frame of the Salone Internazionale del biologico e del naturale (SANA Expo) in 2018, where the Italian OFF research community met to build a convergence on scope and modus operandi in the research endeavor. These outcomes were examined in the light of the key features of the research and innovation projects funded in Italy in the last 10 years, respectively by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and the regional administrations through the innovation support instruments in the Rural Development Plan programming periods. In the period 2009–2018, 70 research projects for a total funding of 21.081 million € (<0.1% of the value of the sector) were launched, addressing nine different topic areas. Over a similar period (2007–2019), 53 regional innovation projects addressing organic farming were activated for a total budget of 14.299 million € (<10% of the entire available funding). The implementation of interventions in the research and the innovation areas were often scattered in terms of the topics, disciplines, and types of supply chain/network addressed. The relatively high share of multi/interdisciplinary research and innovation projects as well as the acknowledgement of the multi-actor approach as a fundamental step toward co-research and co-innovation were upshots that emerged from our analysis. The outcomes of this study can be used by competent national and the regional authorities to design their future research and innovation policies and interventions.

Highlights

In the frame of the Salone Internazionale del biologico e del naturale (SANA Expo) held in Bologna (Italy) on September 2018, a plenary World Café exercise was performed, with the objective to engage the Italian research community involved in organic food and farming (OFF) and agroecology (AE) in a common discussion
The workshop was promoted and organized by the three main scientific associations operating in the OFF sector in Italy and the European Association for Agroecology (Agroecology Europe), and involved Italian scientists as well as experts and practitioners committed to research and innovation development from universities and governmental and non-governmental research institutions
The objective of the World Café held in the frame of the SANA Expo was to identify and elaborate on the principles and methodologies to be adopted for high-quality research on organic farming in Italy

Summary

Introduction

A Snapshot of Oganic Food and Farming in Italy. Over the last three decades, organic food and farming have continued to grow yearly across. The first pioneering experiences carried out in organic agriculture in Italy date back to the 1960s with the flourishment of alternative movements, and were more firmly established in the 1970s, involving farmers and consumers looking for healthy foods and environmentally friendly farming practices. During the mid-eighties, the Commissione Nazionale “Cos’è Biologico” (National Commission “What is organic”) was established with the contribution of organic farming representatives and consumers’. Associations, which set the first self-regulatory standards for organic farming. In 1988, the commission changed its name to AIAB (Italian Association for Organic Agriculture)

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