Description

CONTEXT


Bologna’s Apennines, mountain area.

The territory taken into consideration, as various rural areas of central Italy, suffers for serious structural problems due to the conformation of the soil, especially hydro-geological instability and significant risk of landslides. Moreover, additional socio-economic troubles hit in these regions in the previous years, as farmland abandonment and the consequent progressive phenomenon of depopulation and unemployment.

In the recent years we addressed our efforts to the Apennines Area next to Bologna. In this area we are developing, in accordance with the Local Municipalities and private stakeholders, a model called “Social Farm”. This model is addressed to the development and growth of small agricultural and breeding farm businesses in this area. We are involved in a process of social inclusion and recovery of environmental resources in order to maximize the social good, the creation of value for the entire community and the implementation of a high-quality production chain.

Grameen Italia’s social challenge fits in this particular context because the Organization is deeply rooted in this area and operates with different and relevant local stakeholders such as Municipalities (Lizzano in Belvedere and the “Unione dei Comuni Appennino Bolognese), territorial authorities, University of Bologna, Research and Development centers (E.N.E.A) and agricultural enterprises. The Grameen Italia’s role is to create a stable and reliable network to tackle the reported problems and achieve results from an economic and social point of view.




We are involved in several projects in this geographic area, from the recovery of a specific aquaculture product (Salmerino Fontinalis), the creation of sheep farms, to specific market research for officinal herbs and the cultivation of hemp for industrial use and bioconstruction technologies. Hemp is the project where we are converging more efforts and resources because we truly think that it’s a profitable market for economic stakeholders.


The development model we are trying to implement aims at exploring the development and growth of small agricultural and breeding farm businesses in this area. We are involved in a process of social inclusion and recovery of environmental resources in order to maximize the social good




CHALLENGE


The challenge we are facing is related to the revitalization of the Apennines area through innovating the model of social farming, involving disadvantaged people.

Our challenge concerns the implementation of an economic and social development plan in the adjacent Apennines of the Bologna City Metropolitan Area, achieved by agricultural and industrial enterprises, based on the model of social farming. The enactment of this challenge will encounter one of the main target of the Grameen Italia: the job placement of disadvantaged people (unemployed, women, migrants, young workers) in agriculture and the creation of new entrepreneurial projects to foster the depopulation and unemployment phenomena of this specific area.
We aim to give a new social and economic impulse to the Apennines Area through the different agricultural activities and the improvement of the existent production chain (cultivation, conversion of the resources, sale).

We are looking for innovative solutions that can help us in exploiting the potential of social farming
  • Facilitating the manufacturing process, through the introduction of innovative technological solutions, focused on primary processing;
  • Involving more farmers to expand our network and to generate a more significant impact on the territory;
  • Establishing in the Bologna's Apennines social farms active in different agricultural sectors, capable to cover the entire life-span of the production process.


 


THE CHALLENGE OWNER


Grameen Italia was born in 2010, thanks to the cooperation among University of Bologna, Grameen Trust and Unicredit Foundation. It is a non-profit organization that pursues exclusively social solidarity objectives and has as its main goal the study and the promotion of the microfinance and the microcredit in Italy and Europe, or the support of the autonomous work and/or entrepreneurship through Microcredit grants and economical training. 


The Grameen Italia’s role is to create a stable and reliable network to tackle the reported problems and achieve results from an economic and social point of view. In recent years, Grameen Italia started some research activities in the agricultural sector thanks to the partnership with some local farming enterprises that granted the use of their land.
The Grameen Italia’s range of activities can support the social agricultural businesses (Social Farm) as a new way to social inclusion of disadvantaged people. We think that giving an economic input, through new agricultural activities, could be the best panacea for the Apennines to tackle several problems: depopulation, unemployment, unexploited lands and opportunities. Our strategy, with the help of several local and national stakeholders (Unicredit, E.N.E.A, University of Bologna, Local Municipalities), is directed to solutions that can produce positive effects on the economic and social field. 


COMMITMENT

We commit to activate our partners to succeed in this challenge, because it would be a win-win solution.

Our goal is to invest and exploit our network, the partnership with local municipalities and Research Center, our economic and financial knowledge and tools, to implement many “Social farms” business in this area, with the job placement as direct output.
Grameen Italia is also part of the Italian network of Microcredit, allowing the solution provider to reach easily a grant and being helped in the steps needed for the Grant (Financial training, business plan review and Technical training).

Leonardo Battista is one of the Team members involved in this project. He worked and led a Startup Incubator for the University of Bologna, in Forlì. He has a Master of Science in Business and Administration and has a peculiar knowledge agriculture markets.

The Challenge Owner

Fondazione Grameen Italia

Grameen Italia was born in 2010. It is a non-profit organization that pursues exclusively social solidarity objectives and has as its main goal the study and the promotion of the microfinance and the microcredit in Italy and Europe, according to the principles inspired by the Nobel Peace Prize Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank.