Agroecology: a strategic element against the climate and energy crisis for healthier, cleaner and more ethical food.
In Campania, organic surface area grows +55% compared to 2020. Campania is among the top five Italian regions in terms of number of companies, 79 thousand, which have made investments to innovate, change the technique or management of production.
The Ambassadors of Agroecology in Campania have been awarded: concrete examples and models present in the territories that make us understand how the ecological transition is already a reality
The transition in agriculture passes through sustainability. To adequately respond to consumers who ask for healthier products and to face the epochal challenge of climate change, we need to create a new agricultural and economic model, capable of intertwining innovation and research. And agroecology can become a strategic element against the climate and energy crisis for healthier, cleaner and more ethical food. With testimonies, contributions, data and scientific insights, the Forum on Circular Agroecology of Legambiente Campania took place in Naples to discuss the need for a real revolution in the agricultural sector, in line with the need for an ecological transition for the entire Planet and a CAP that truly responds to the urgency of a production model capable of placing agroecology at the center.
In Campania - Legambiente writes - the agricultural surface used is 516 thousand hectares, a decrease of 6,2% compared to 2010 (Istat). However, the organic surface is growing, from 64 thousand hectares in 2020 showing an increase of 55% reaching 100 thousand hectares of organic cultivation, a growth well above the annual average (National Information System on Organic Agriculture for the Mipaaf). An agricultural sector that knows how to innovate that of Campania which, in fact, is among the first five Italian regions in terms of number of companies, 79 thousand, which have made investments to innovate, change the technique or management of production. A good 7% of the national total and 12% compared to the whole of Southern Italy, with investments especially in the mechanization, planting and sowing, soil processing and irrigation sectors.
"We need to reduce the sector's impact on the climate and on the loss of biodiversity, making the path towards the transition not only environmentally, but also socially and economically sustainable," says Mariateresa Imparato, president of Legambiente Campania. "Made in Italy, in this sense, can and must become an important piece both in the production of healthy and fair food in a perspective that does not abandon European strategies, and in the country's energy strategy, to reduce emissions and multiply renewables. Sustainability of supply chains, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, protection of natural resources and genetic variety, fight against illegality, beauty of the landscape and promotion of the territory: these are the current challenges to which we must respond. At the same time, we must increasingly enter the perspective of a multifunctional agriculture in which renewables, primarily agrivoltaics, biogas and biomethane plants, can play a strategic role in the current scenario," concludes Mariateresa Imparato. "For this to happen, however, guidelines must be defined and preconceptions that could slow down development must be avoided.
Among the priorities identified by Legambiente, the enhancement of the short supply chain and local communities, a strategic national CAP plan more in line with EU strategies, the adoption of the PAN (the National Action Plan for the sustainable use of plant protection products), the approval of the law against agromafias, the application of the law on organics, more adequate and uniform rules for the correct and transparent construction of renewable energy plants, primarily agrivoltaic, biomethane and biogas plants. A sector that of the combination of renewable energy and agriculture that will be increasingly central in the coming years. To date in Campania, source Istat, there are 151 companies that have as an activity connected to their normal activity the production of solar renewable energy, there are 21 companies that have instead the production of renewable energy from biomass, 9 those from wind renewable energy, 6 hydroelectric. Numbers that will certainly grow given the decarbonization objectives to be achieved in the coming years.
The Legambiente forum is also an opportunity to tell the stories of administrations and rural realities that are models of good practices, protagonists of the Agroecology Ambassadors Award, concrete examples and models present in the territories that make us understand how the ecological transition is already a reality: Coop. Amico Bio Farm – Santa Maria Capua Vetere (CE) D'Amore Francesco Farm – Frignano CE Il Verro Farm – Formicola CE Nata Terra Oil Mill – Cellole (CE) Don Peppe Diana's Lands – Castel Volturno (CE) “Sannino – De Cillis” Higher Education Institute – Naples Casa Setaro – TRECASE (NA) Nonna Rosa's Inn – Somma Vesuviana NA San Salvatore 1988 Farm – Stio (SA) Da Zero Pizzeria – Vallo della Lucania (SA) Marisa Cuomo Wines – Furore (SA) Iolanda Busillo Farm – Eboli (SA) Ager Farm – Somma Vesuviana (NA).
During the Forum, CAPon was presented, the project created within the IMCAP program of the European Union to deepen, through seminars, field visits and awareness days, good agroecological practices related to organic farming, the fight against climate change, multifunctionality and the opportunities offered by the CAP and European policies to support innovation and sustainability of the agricultural supply chain.
Article published on 27 April 2023 - 16:00
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