The family farming: a traditional model to foster the agriculture innovation

This study aims to analyze the characteristics of an innovative and strategic agriculture industry, the objectives on which it focuses and the local actors and policies that could facilitate its de- velopment. In this framework, we intend to highlight the agricultural model of family farming, seen as the most capable of catching up and adopting the innovative trends. In the face of these innovations, which are leading agriculture far from a “productivist” model, that is disconnected from the speci city of environmental and territorial resources, Italy still shows some lag in following a multifunctional model on the basis of quanti able factors. Nevertheless, family farms represent today the best alternative to embrace a multifunctional agriculture linked to a sustainable rural development, as indicated by National and EU policy.