Against a backdrop of economic, ecological, and social crises, the role of agriculture has diversified, taking on a multifunctional character. In addition to its primary function of food production, agriculture now plays a significant role in the social domain, offering services to disadvantaged individuals at risk of marginalization. Despite the numerous benefits that social farming (SF) offers to society, it faces several challenges related to the complex interactions among all stakeholders involved in its development. The theoretical foundation for explaining this phenomenon, provided by the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP), positions SF as a radical social innovation aimed at generating personal services through an innovative paradigm, diverging from current practices. The categories of actors involved in this process align with those typically considered by the Quadruple Helix model, which are expected to exchange resources, competencies, and experiences, thereby fostering the development of innovation and the pursuit of a well-integrated interplay. According to the literature, several barriers may obstruct the development of this innovation. The objective of our paper is to identify the barriers hindering effective collaboration and cooperation among the stakeholders involved. The expected impact of the paper is to raise awareness among stakeholders, empowering them to develop strategies to overcome these barriers. In order to achieve this objective, a methodology has been developed to account for the complex interaction within the multi-actor interplay, and to identify the barriers that emerged during the case study analysis. The adopted methodological approach is participatory, based on observing and critically analyzing multi-actor dialogues within focus groups designed using the “Living Lab” model. The main findings of this study shed light on the barriers that emerged from the participatory experience, providing factual evidence to guide possible interventions aimed at fostering the innovation process. We conducted field research in the province of Foggia (Southern Italy), involving farmers, social enterprises, health-welfare-social institutions, consultants, families of disadvantaged individuals, and representatives of the creative industry. The most significant barriers identified include a lack of knowledge about SF and the benefits of related activities, insufficient long-term economic support, and challenges in recruiting specialized personnel for therapeutic roles on social farms. Additionally, we found limited collaboration among public institutions, low stakeholder awareness regarding the importance of their roles, and the absence of a protected space conducive to nurturing the innovation niche. Finally, interactions among participants raised awareness of the outcomes of SF and their advantages over alternative practices, enhancing the dignity of farms engaged in this multifunctional activity.

Literature on farm productivity and efficiency was reviewed using a scoping review methodology, focusing on studies that have included risk and risk management tools within the stochastic frontier analysis in agricultural economics. This study contributes to investigating the methods used to account for endogeneity by using a risk-accommodating stochastic frontier approach when analysing farmers’ performance. Despite the increasing methodologies proposed in the literature, only a few studies have treated endogeneity in farm risk-performance evaluations. According to our findings, it can be concluded that there is a literature gap regarding the adoption of a comprehensive approach capable of dealing with endogeneity when assessing farm performances. Endogeneity and risk issues need to be concurrently addressed to make strides in achieving economic and environmental sustainability. Neglecting endogeneity in these analyses may lead to biased estimates and thus inappropriate policy recommendations failing to boost the productivity and technical efficiency of farmers.

Agriculture can be a possible provider of social services of relevant importance for the whole society. In order to generate a valuable social service, a multi-actor approach is often applied, based on an active collaboration among public institutions, non-profit organizations, and private firms, and capable of generating multiple positive impacts. This new approach may both favorite agricultural diversification and enhance the quality of life of rural communities. However, in order to enable policymakers in motivating the public support to these types of initiatives, an evaluation method capable of disentangling the multiple benefits generated by social agricultural projects is required. In this paper, we adapted the evaluation method previously developed by the SIMRA consortium for Social Innovation initiatives, to a project aimed at the employability of NEETs in the south of Italy. A selection grid, framed by cross-referencing the national policy objectives of social agriculture and the criteria of eligibility adopted in public calls is proposed, to choose the suitable indicators for the evaluation. The evaluation experience allowed the measurement of 34 indicators of performance. The results prove that 12 indicators are positive, while 12 are moderate, and 10 are low and are mainly related to the enhancement of social inclusion. The evaluation exercise may be useful to disentangling the multiple outcomes generated by initiatives based on social innovation, which are highly based on intangible assets, and exert a positive effect on the internal cohesion and the engagement of the civil society.

The European Union promotes social innovation (SI) initiatives for the support of marginalised rural areas through rural and sustainable development policies. These are based on the engagement of local actors and the strengthening of their mutual relationships to boost the fostering of professional collaborations. In this context, the Horizon 2020 Social Innovation in Marginalised Areas (SIMRA) project elaborated a conceptual framework for characterising the engagement in an SI initiative. Accordingly, this paper aims to demonstrate that engagement relies on specific key drivers, such as the existence of unmet social needs and the role of agency. To this end, a two-step Heckman model was applied to an SI initiative case study called Vàzapp’, a rural hub (agency) located in Southern Italy. It promotes relationships among farmers to valorise the marginalised rural areas. The results appear consistent with the theoretical framework, demonstrating that the farmers’ engagement was motivated by the existence of the aforementioned determinants. The implications are relevant for policymakers, consultants, and social innovators who may incorporate these elements in designing specific SI projects in different contexts.

Despite the growing interest in social innovation (SI) in agriculture, the literature lacks validated tools for evaluating such initiatives. This paper provides an empirical application of the evaluation approach developed within the H2020 SIMRA project to a pilot experience conducted in a rural area of Southern Italy. The value added by this case study is the application of the five types of criteria used by the OECD for the evaluation of development programs, which are commonly referred to as REEIS: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability. This experiment demonstrates the adequacy of the evaluation framework in identifying strengths and weaknesses of the initiative, according to a multifaceted perspective. The overall evaluation proves that most indicators fall under the high (48%) and medium categories (36%), and only few indicators are low (16%). The usefulness of the evaluation results is manifold. First, this evaluation highlights relevant arguments to support the communication strategy addressed at civil society, therefore reinforcing the civic engagement of the initiative, which is the distinctive feature of SI. Second, it supports project managers in addressing interventions to face emerging weaknesses. Finally, the evaluation provides factual evidence to policy makers to perform cost-effective analysis of rural development policies.

The paper focuses on Agro-food waste valorization conceived as a long-term, complex socio-technical process involving several different actors belonging to multiple levels. Although this process is typically affected by a series of uncertainties, the convergence of stakeholders' expectations proves to be a means to overcoming barriers, as it acts as the foundation of a shared agenda setting which formalizes the coordination efforts among the actors involved in an innovation process. Applying the strategic niche management (SNM) framework to the case of the Apulia Agro-Food Technology District (DARe), whose mission is to promote a bio-based industry for food-waste valorization, the paper proposes an operational tool capable of designing the strategy based on the entrepreneurs' knowledge. The DARe aims to promote the technological innovation of agro-food firms located in the South of Italy. The results of a SWOT-SOR analysis led to the establishment of a twofold strategy aimed at (a) promoting the innovation of more active and dynamic firms, and (b) reducing the gap between "pioneer" and "laggard" firms, with the result of promoting integrated innovation throughout the entire district.

The food district is an innovative measure introduced by the Italian Financial Programme Law 2018, aiming at fostering the integration of food production, distribution, including retailers and restaurants. The present paper, by means of qualitative/participatory methodologies, investigates the key elements stakeholders consider for its development in the province of Foggia, Southern Italy, given the background seeing agri-food districts initiative failing. Main findings concern the need to identify the leading institution (public or private); the opportunity to conduct a 'pilot test' on a small case study; the difficulty to build a shared sense of strong identity, to foster the interest of all categories of stakeholders.

The marginalised rural communities are characterised by societal challenges, such as isolation, lack of job opportunities, land abandonment, low quality of life and generally low education. Social Innovation (SI) initiatives may represent an opportunity to strengthen relationships among the members of rural community, by means of the alteration of the existing social networks. In this way, more exchange of information is expected, paving the way for the creation of professional collaborations among firms and other actors. This paper aims at proposing a short-term evaluation framework of effectiveness of a SI initiative in terms of reconfiguration of the social network structure. The described empirical case study is VaZapp', a rural hub located in Southern Italy, which provides innovative solutions to activate social relations amongst farmers, altering hence their network. A well-referenced SI theoretical model, developed within the H2020 project SIMRA (Social Innovation in Marginalised Rural Areas), and the methodology of Social Network Analysis (SNA) were used to verify and measure quantitative and qualitative indicators affected by network intervention activated by VaZapp' initiative. Results show that this SI initiative worked effectively, leading to a +308% in the number of relations and +250% in social network density. In addition, an evident improvement in the quality of the social relations was found, especially in cases where there are direct engagements within VaZapp'. Outcomes suggest that supporting and promoting SI initiatives could become a central discussion point for the rethinking of rural development policies focused on regeneration of social relations' structure.

In this study, Turkish and Italian mills were compared in terms of efficiency scores and quality and environmental sensitivity. In the study, metafrontier method was used to determine efficiency scores, and indexes formed from responses obtained through questionnaires were used to determine quality and environmental sensitivities. In addition, the factors that affect the efficiency scores were determined by 1000 repeated trunceted regression analysis. The estimated efficiency scores for CCR, BCC and SCA models are respectively 74%, 80% and 93% for Turkish mills and 81%, 87% and 84% for Italian mills. It is also determined that Turkish mills and Italian mills can increase their olive oil production about 45% and 49% respectively without changing their existing inputs. When we check the factors which thought to affect the efficiency scores, we estimated that the number or partners and number of the permanent unskilled labour have negative effect and production managers experience, special training and quality index have positive effect on efficiency scores in Turkish mills. In the Italian mills, production managers experience, special training, quality index and environmental indeks, were found to have a positive effect on efficiency scores. As a result, Turkish mills have to increase their quality and environmental sensivities and decrease the number of partners, number of permanent unskilled labour for the competition of Turkish olive oil.

Social acceptance is a relevant determinant of the development of agro-energy systems because its absence can cause delays or even the abandonment of innovative projects. This paper aims at an ex ante assessment of the socio-political acceptance of small-scale agro-energy systems in rural areas located in southern Italy, according to the bioenergy village approach. Starting from a theoretical model, we investigated the key factors influencing the perception of the risks and benefits of the realization of a biomass combustion plant, by a statistical survey on a sample of 152 members of the local community living in eight municipalities located in a rural area. Through exploratory and confirmatory statistical analyses, we identified two key factors: (a) the economic, environmental, and social benefits for the community and (b) reassurance from the energy company management. This research shows that it is very important to consider these elements in order to facilitate dialogue and the debate within the local community. In this way, the involved actors will be enabled to express their expectations to decision makers and policymakers, thus contributing to the steering of the project. In other words, community involvement and the democracy of the energy policy processes are favoured.

Volumetric pricing as envisaged within the Water Framework Directive (60/2000) is a considerable challenge in terms of irrigation in Mediterranean regions, since a large share of the water source is groundwater. Enforcing this pricing scheme involves systematic metering and control (M&C) systems with subsequent high costs. This paper aims to fill the gap in the literature related to the assessment of costs for the metering and control of irrigation groundwater. The full operational cost of all activities related to the hypothetical services provided by a public agency is assessed for Apulia (a region in southern Italy). The results show that point-to-point metering services are quite costly, ranging from 38.5 to 59 euros per delivery point. New questions arise regarding whether the M&C of groundwater abstraction should be fully charged to end users (i.e., farmers), or also shared with the whole society as a public service aimed at environmental enhancement.

Municipal solid waste is continuously increasing in the world. Since it contains a significant amount of organic matter, the treatment of Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW) represents a relevant challenge for sustainable development. This waste fraction, may produce a number of valuable commodities. The paper focuses on some specific substances, which are suitable for the production of biodegradable plastic materials and that may be used for the production of agricultural soil mulching films. The aim of this study is to investigate on the structure of this potential supply chain, from the collection or separation of OFMSW, to the commercialisation of biodegradable mulching films, in order to identifying the possible bottlenecks hindering its development.

The management of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) is a complex matter, where the involvement of all relevant stakeholders can play a crucial role in supporting policymakers in defining an effective and long-running waste management plan at the local level. This paper deals with the difficulties related to the scarce collaboration and commitment of stakeholders involved in OFMSW collection and management, which mainly affects the regions located in the southern part of Italy. Starting from these premises, the aim of the study was to test an approach for involving stakeholders in the definition of a long-term strategy to address a complex issue, such as OFMSW valorisation. For this purpose, participatory backcasting was used to allow stakeholders to describe their desired future, and working backwards to identify the policy actions needed to achieve that future. Specifically, this paper focusses on the OFMSW's valorisation of the municipality of Foggia (Southern Italy), which is representative of the lagging behind in waste management. The experiment led to a strategy based on OFMSW valorisation involving bio-methane and the production of digestate, through which it will be possible to reduce the quantity of waste disposed in landfills. To investigate the suitability of the proposed approach, a questionnaire for measuring the level of influence of participants on the workshop results and the quality of the final strategy was submitted. Participants expressed a strong degree of empowerment in the identification of actions and their arrangement on the timeline. Overall, the experience proved that the suggested approach fostered the stakeholders' contribution to the long-term strategy definition for OFMSW management. However, this draft strategy needs to be further elaborated to be implemented. In addition, the validation scores demonstrated a positive effect on the democratization of policymaking. Therefore, the proposed backcasting could be considered a valuable approach for supporting policymakers, especially in regions affected by the scarce engagement of people towards environmental protection. In this way, local governments may adopt this tool to improve their waste management plans.

This research estimates the economic losses at the farm level caused by groundwater over-exploitation and by seawater intrusion. The problem of coastal groundwater salinity was tackled by considering its hydrological, agronomic and economic aspects. Economic analysis for competitive use vs. regulated management regimes was carried out, considering constant and adaptive watering techniques. We concentrate on the farmers’ perspective of water as an input in agriculture, and assess discounted net present value over a period of 30 years. The ultimate goal of this research is to raise the awareness of farmers and policy makers by demonstrating the economic impacts (from the farmer’s point of view) of over-exploitation. Our findings for Apulia Region (Southern Italy) indicate that the slowness of the long-term effect of salinity and the ability of farmers to adapt irrigation profiles suggest broadening the perspective of policy intervention. For an effective management of this common resource, policy makers should follow a more comprehensive approach based on economic analysis.