18 de March de 2021
18.03.2021. Land abandonment is a complex phenomenon present in various regions. Various factors converge: territorial (hard-to-reach areas, isolated lands and steep slopes), demographic (urban population growth, decline in agricultural workers), political (agrarian and food legislation, protection of agricultural land, urban speculation policies), and socioeconomic (poor generational renewal, etc.).
- This innovation group implements common land management (CLM) initiatives
- The method consists of grouping lands and resources under the cooperative framework on a competitive scale.
The Innoland Operational Group was established in 2016 to address this situation with a clear objective : to improve the long-term competitiveness of cooperatives through social innovation mechanisms based on common land management (CLM).
Cooperative model
From the perspective of the Innoland Operational Group, cooperatives are currently failing to achieve the expected results due to a lack of generational change within their membership and management teams. Faced with this reality, and the question of what can be improved in the cooperative model, the group is focusing its efforts on promoting mechanisms that facilitate access to land within the cooperative framework.
The formula they apply to innovate in the cooperative field is common land management initiatives (CLMs). Through various formats, the goal is to pool land and resources so that the land is profitable for producers under the cooperative model.
Ultimately, the goal is to improve the productive management of agri-food cooperatives to boost the marketing of their own production and enable viable farms that generate added value and foster generational renewal in smallholder areas of citrus, stone fruit, nuts, vineyards, and olive groves.
Lines of work
The Innoland Operational Group is working on three lines of research:
- He Testing common land management initiatives (CLM) through the experience of two cooperatives that are implementing this model: the San Vicent Ferrer Cooperative from Benaguasil-Ruralfruit (Valencia) and Unió Nuts from Reus (Tarragona).
- Share progress with companies and individuals who can benefit from it and find the lessons learned useful or scalable (adapting each case to each territory and its characteristics).
- Generate a network of experiences that will serve those interested in joining forces in the same direction.
The InnoLand Operational Group involves ten entities with different profiles linked to the agri-food sector, all acting within the framework of Measure 16 for the creation of Operational Groups and Innovative Projects of the National Rural Development Program . of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) .