The Barcelona Provincial Council publishes the guide "New Farmers: Practical guide to facilitate access to land for agricultural entrepreneurs”, a digital publication that is born with the will to reactivate the agri-food systems of the province. Aimed especially at municipalities and other local entities interested in promoting a new generation of agricultural and livestock entrepreneurs, “New Farmers” has as its main objective to facilitate the incorporation of people into agricultural activity, both those with a family farming background and those without any ties.

With a focus on revitalizing the local primary sector, the guide details the steps that local entities can follow to encourage generational renewal processes in the countryside. In addition, it proposes the creation of a Peasant Welcome Service (SAP), an accompanying program that includes tools such as land banks, peasant mentoring, farmers' nurseries, agricultural test spaces, resource banks and equipment shared by to agro-food processing.

The guide collects outstanding experiences of land banks and agricultural test spaces in Europe, with special mention of the French association Terres de Liens, which has been working since 2003 to facilitate access to land for agricultural entrepreneurs. It also highlights the experiences of the French network RENETA, with more than 60 agricultural test spaces in operation.

With photographs by Patxi Uriz, the guide is the result of the joint and transversal work of three experts in the field: Neus Monllor, an agro-social consultant specialized in rural development, generational renewal and local agri-food systems; Anna Roca, professor at the University of Girona and consultant for agri-food revitalization projects; and Sònia Callau, head of the Agrarian Territorial Directorate of the Barcelona Provincial Council. The publication has been edited as part of the BCN Smart Rural program and has been co-financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER).

The need to revitalize the field

The guide presents some relevant data that demonstrate the need to promote a new generation of farmers, given the significant decline in Catalan agricultural activity in the last fifty years. According to figures from the Statistical Institute of Catalonia, in 2016 only 49,400 people worked in agriculture, 1.6% of total employment. In addition, the turnover rate between farmers over 55 and those under 35 is 9.9, much lower than in 1999, which was 13.1. The publication "New Farmers" also analyzes the situation of the age structure of agricultural holdings in Catalonia and shows a worrying reality: only 7.5% of the agricultural area is managed by farmers under 35 years of age, while 61% is in the hands of those over 55 years old. These data shows the need to promote generational succession and the incorporation of newly arrived farmers.

Faced with this worrying situation, the guide proposes several actions to reactivate the agricultural sector. At a general level, it aims to encourage the implementation of peasant welcome services in the towns and cities of the province de Barcelona to offer support to agricultural entrepreneurs and livestock farmers. At a specific level, the aim is to consolidate the Network of Land Banks of Catalonia, promoted and managed by the Barcelona Provincial Council in collaboration with local councils and with the aim of establishing cooperation mechanisms to support new farmers.

The network hosts ten publicly managed land banks distributed throughout Catalonia, which facilitate the recovery and access to land for new entrepreneurs and become hotspots for agricultural entrepreneurship projects. Among these banks, the guide highlights those created in the agrarian parks of Barcelona's province, such as Montserrat Rural Park, Lower Tordera Agrarian Space and the Odena Basin Agrarian Park. These banks envisage actions such as making an inventory of potentially arable land, providing initial information on how to access the land, offering support to owners and tenants to facilitate the signing of agreements, establishing communication tools and disseminating business projects, advising and offering training related to edible crops, and recovering historic allotments in the municipalities. In addition, the network has a centralized web platform that offers up-to-date information on the land banks that are part of it.

For more information on the tools and resources available to facilitate access to land for agricultural entrepreneurs, please contact Sònia Callau, head of the Agrarian Territorial Directorate of the Barcelona Provincial Council.

— BCN Smart Rural Editorial —