Regulatory simplification, harmonization of relevant regional policies, interaction with the National Civil Service. These were the issues addressed on Jan. 26, 2017 at the inaugural meeting of the National Observatory on Social Agriculture, a body envisaged by Framework Law 141/15, in effect since Sept. 23, 2015, launched for the social and employment inclusion of people with difficulties and disabilities.
About a thousand social agriculture experiences are already operating in Italy, with more than 390 cooperatives employing 4 thousand people and developing more than 200 million euros in turnover. The production activities involved are mainly annual crops, followed by animal husbandry and permanent crops. The people thus reintegrated into the world of work are in 50 percent of cases disadvantaged by forms of disability, or unemployed people with hardship, minors and students in school-to-work alternation.
Representatives of the Ministries of Agriculture, Labor, Health and Justice, Regions, national social agriculture networks, agricultural organizations, the Third Sector, social promotion associations and cooperation participate in the Observatory-which performs policy, monitoring and coordination functions.
