The rural areas for sustainable development

Support for agricultural policies has always been one of the most important headings in the Community budget. Yet in recent years resources in that field have been considerably reduced: in fact, they went from 75% of spending in the early '80s to the current 45%. This framework has seen, at the same time, over the last ten years, the reduction in production subsidies (the so-called "first pillar" of the Common Agricultural Policy- CAP) and the strengthening of a policy of structural measures to benefit rural areas ("second pillar" of the CAP), where agriculture has its strongest roots and a very important socio-economic weight. In these areas, which cover 92% of the entire national territory and where just over half of the population lives, the primary sector plays a very
complex role: not only as the simple food reservoir, but also as a provider of services to the entire community, an irreplaceable bulwark in defence of a delicate balance to preserve land for future generations.
In this new mission, more responsive to the needs of all citizens, the EU has identified four new challenges since 2009: climate change, renewable energies, water management and biodiversity. To cope with these new commitments, the latest CAP reform (the Health Check of 2009) has increased funding for rural development: the share allocated to Italy rose from 16.6 to 17.6 billion euros in the 2007-2013 period. These are the new frontiers of sustainable development, where agriculture plays a leading role in reducing socio-economic imbalances, to strengthen links between production activities and protect the environment and landscape, enhance the traditions, not only of typical products, but also of the rural culture and farm life. Like all new challenges, these new goals also require a greater commitment from everyone, from public institutions to associations, from the operators to civil society. The management of structural intervention is, in fact, something far more complex than the traditional automatic aid paid to farmers based on the characteristics of the farm. The programming is more challenging, because it must also ensure spending efficiency and compliance with selection criteria consistent with the Community and national strategic indications identified in Italy by the National Strategic Plan for Rural Development (NDP), drawn up by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, in agreement with the central and regional administrations, as well as representatives of associations and civil society.