Agroecology can be considered an approach to farming and food systems which integrates the use of ecological principles and biological cycles methods of the traditional systems to the design and management of sustainable agriculture. Despite some differences mainly due to specific national developments on the topic, today there is a substantial convergence in the belief that the term agroecology reconciles three dimensions: scientific discipline, social movement, cultural practice. Beyond the deep-rooted French experience, at the level of the European Union (EU) there is no clear strategy for agroecological practices and action plans. In the Italian case, a first step forward, especially in terms of initiatives, was taken following the universal exhibition “EXPO 2015 Milan” while with respect to the promotion of agroecological practices, some positive feedback is ascribable to the experience of the Bio-districts. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the model adopted by the Italian multifunctional farms can be considered precursory with respect to the approach that, from a theoretical point of view, identifies agroecology. The Italian system on farms diversification would seem to show it has somehow anticipated the new European Green Deal strategy for the next ten years due to the simultaneous presence of key elements that concern not only agricultural practice but also ethical and social aspects by involving farmers and communities that insist on the territory. Green Deal and Farm to Fork strategies recognize a new and important role for the agriculture and agri-food sectors and to invite farmers to engage consumers’ interest. The study also considers some characteristics of the farmers, such as the level of education and the economic sector in which they were employed before devoting themselves to the agritourism business but also the ability to develop multi-actor and multi-level networks. The analysis of these determinants would allow them to place different professional skills at the service of the primary sector that tend to positively influence the organization and farm performance. At the same time, the farmers’ skills are influenced by different sectors of activity such as participation in research projects or even in local initiatives with public and private actors. This allows the agroecological approach to be put into practice in a conscious (or unconscious) way.

The new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) proposal includes few improvements compared to previous programming periods which may reinforce future evaluation, but we can also observe elements that may weaken the assessment, with the risk of repeating past failures. The objective of this essay is to analyse the new framework proposed for evaluation in the future CAP and to promote a collective discussion on how to make evaluations more usable, useful and reliable for users and practitioners. The first part of the paper analyses the main elements of evaluation during the different rural development programming cycles. A second part is dedicated to an examination of the current programming period (2014–2020) and the implications of the introduction of the Common Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (CMEF) and the evaluation plan. In a third part, we critically discuss the proposals for the next programming period and we offer some concluding reflections and two main open questions. From the analyses carried out, many elements emerge to encourage discussion on the role that evaluation has played and can play and the critical points to face. The experiences in rural development policies have introduced important changes in theoretical and implementation terms. In particular, they helped to build evaluation capacity and enabled the involvement of the civil society. However, it is also clear that the European Commission (EC) designed path has often led to an increase in rigidity and orthodoxy towards common frameworks compliance.

The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly disrupted the household behavior in all areas and also those related to eating and daily food. Research carried out shows there have been significant changes compared to pre-COVID levels in the way consumers plan their food purchases. Based on the results of empirical data and emerging information such as ad hoc reports and analysis of academic literature, the authors aim to understand the effect of COVID-19 on agricultural and extra-agricultural activities in diversified Italian farms. More specifically, due to their importance at a national level, the focus of the analysis is represented by the agritourism, how they have reacted to the challenges posed by the pandemic, and towards which evolutionary lines they are orienting themselves to face the next future challenges. Empirical data for this study were collected through the use of a questionnaire survey, managed by the research team. The survey, conducted online during summer 2021, was designed by using a random stratified sampling for which the farms are characterized by a certain heterogeneity of the activities carried out (i.e., hospitality, processing of products, renewable energy production, etc.). The research activity covered the entire Italian territory and the number of responding farms with agritourism activities is equal to 77 (a 17.5% response rate). The results highlight the importance of farm with agritourism activities in dealing with COVID-19 crisis and policy implications in terms of support for the competitiveness of farms, exchange of knowledge, and innovations among farmers that should be taken into consideration to target the next rural development policy at the EU, the national and regional level. At the same time, the sample reaction methods to the pandemic and the changing business strategies highlight a certain resilience of Italian farms with agritourism activities, thus showing their ability to adapt.

Although in recent years some credit institutions have shown a willingness to support agricultural entrepreneurs, there is still a lack of private financing or co-financing in the agricultural sector. Many farms, in fact, are not able to meet the indicators or to provide the fees required by banks to obtain investment loans. The financial instruments introduced by the European Commission within the Rural Development Programme aim at supporting access to credit for farms to make them more economically viable, competitive, and suited to market requirements. The objective of this paper is to analyze the role played by the financial instruments introduced by the European Union to support and encourage the improvement of farms and, in general, the agriculture, forestry, human capital, and rural development in Italy. The paper explores the topic in detail by presenting a case study of a region that has successfully applied these instruments using a revolving fund with a special background. The quantitative data used in this study are administrative; some information was obtained through a survey. Regional information on the implementation of this fund is examined in terms of both opportunities and limitations to highlight the best practice. The findings suggest that certain conditions are required to develop and implement effective financial instruments: a real and effective collaboration between regional administration, banking institutions, and farms that are willing to grasp the newness; a reasonable period of time (some years); know-how because knowledge and experience are crucial, together with the ability to face complexity both in terms of normative issues and financial engineering instruments themselves. Several implications derive from these findings.

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