Agroecology for migrant ‘emplacement’ in the left‐behind European countryside

Abstract

We explore the nexus between the green and demographic transitions in the European Union (EU) through the analysis of the challenges and opportunities that agroecology offers for the settlement and socioeconomic participation of Italian city‐dwellers‐turned agroecological farmers and non‐EU agroecological farmworkers in ageing and marginalised rural areas in Italy. Many such areas in Italy have recently experienced an influx of newcomers, including non‐EU labour migrants, refugees and asylum seekers and Italian city‐dwellers looking for a different lifestyle. Municipalities and NGOs have developed initiatives, like agroecology, for newcomers to participate in local societies while simultaneously contributing to sustainable rural (re)development in the context of the EU Green Deal. We discuss the potential of agroecology for the ‘emplacement’ of diverse groups of newcomers in these unlikely places through the analysis of the interpersonal, cultural, economic and institutional relations between newcomers and long‐time residents, and across different groups of newcomers, in two Italian villages. Our findings suggest that everyday interactions among long‐time residents and newcomers contribute to the emplacement of the latter. The analysed agroecological initiatives show potential for the emplacement of newcomers through their strong ethical stance and aspirations for environmental sustainability and improved life quality. However, short‐term contracts for the non‐EU farmworkers combined with tight economic returns for the Italian agroecological farmers may lead to distributional and procedural injustices, including the hyper‐exploitation of migrant farmworkers in the name of environmental sustainability.