Territorial Analysis of the European Rural Development Funds (ERDF) as a Driving Factor of Ecological Agricultural Production

Lydia Bares,Marcos Ferasso,Miguel Blanco

doi:10.3390/agriculture11100964

Lydia Bares, Marcos Ferasso + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11100964

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Abstract

The Europe 2030 project identified the need to create a growth model that is based on a dynamic balance between economic, social, and environmental dimensions. This involves, among other objectives, redirecting the resources that are allocated to the Common Agricultural Plan (CAP) toward more ecological agriculture and livestock. In recent decades, two packages of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) approved funds for projects related to agriculture. This study carried out a regional evaluation of the effects on production and employment that were generated in the Spanish organic farming sector. For this, a methodology that is frequently used by researchers to analyze territorial differences was used, namely, the shift-share analysis. The main results showed important differences at the regional level in the production of crops. Likewise, constant shift and constant share analyses were used to forecast the evolution of the sector from the recent data. Pending the approval of the new EAFRD 2021–2030, the results obtained in this research allowed for the identification of the regions that showed a favorable evolution to change the agricultural model and to identify the projects that generated employment and ecological production in the sector.

Highlights

Accepted: 30 September 2021In 2015, the United Nations 2030 Agenda was approved by world leaders
Figure shows the evolution of the number of hectares dedicated to organic farming
Two packages of European Funds were approved to finance actions related to the development of the agricultural sector in Spain

Summary

Introduction

In 2015, the United Nations 2030 Agenda was approved by world leaders It established 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targeting the eradication of poverty and achieving sustainable development around the world by 2030 [1]. It was necessary to propose a sustainable growth model that considered the economic, social, and environmental dimensions [2]. It showed the need to create a common policy that was aimed at renewing the social and economic European model. This new model must make it possible to establish a desired and dynamic balance between the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of development [2]

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