IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2024i1p151-d1555104.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Fine-Tuning Biophysical Parameters: Italy’s Methodological Approach to Redefining Areas with Natural Constraints

Author

Listed:
  • Luca Fraschetti

    (CREA—Research Centre for Policies and Bioeconomy, 00187 Rome, Italy)

  • Concetta Cardillo

    (CREA—Research Centre for Policies and Bioeconomy, 00187 Rome, Italy)

  • Maria Fantappiè

    (CREA—Research Centre for Agriculture and Environment, 50125 Florence, Italy)

  • Flavio Lupia

    (CREA—Research Centre for Policies and Bioeconomy, 00187 Rome, Italy)

  • Alessandra Pesce

    (CREA—Research Centre for Policies and Bioeconomy, 00187 Rome, Italy)

  • Daniela Storti

    (CREA—Research Centre for Policies and Bioeconomy, 00187 Rome, Italy)

Abstract

One of the main challenges faced by many rural areas is the presence of natural constraints, such as climatic conditions, steep slopes, and poor soil quality, which make agricultural production and activities more difficult and costly. In these areas, there is a significant risk of agricultural land abandonment, leading to potential losses in biodiversity, degradation of rural landscapes, desertification, and increased forest fire risk. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) aims to mitigate these risks through specific payment schemes provided to areas facing natural and other specific constraints. In this context, mapping and measuring territorial differentiation is essential for informing policy responses. At the end of the previous CAP programming period, the EU updated its classification of Less Favored Areas (LFAs), experimenting with a flexible approach based on common biophysical criteria (definitions and thresholds) and methodological guidelines to delineate territorial differentiations that are both locally relevant and comparable across member states. This contribution presents a review of the current state of data and spatial inference systems used in Italy to delineate biophysical limitations and assess the presence of factors that may help offset the impact of natural constraints. This process has supported the analysis of territorial differentiation and highlighted the related implications for agricultural entrepreneurs operating in diverse contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Luca Fraschetti & Concetta Cardillo & Maria Fantappiè & Flavio Lupia & Alessandra Pesce & Daniela Storti, 2024. "Fine-Tuning Biophysical Parameters: Italy’s Methodological Approach to Redefining Areas with Natural Constraints," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-26, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2024:i:1:p:151-:d:1555104
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/1/151/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/1/151/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Radosław Pastusiak & Michał Soliwoda & Magdalena Jasiniak & Joanna Stawska & Joanna Pawłowska-Tyszko, 2021. "Are Farms Located in Less-Favoured Areas Financially Sustainable? Empirical Evidence from Polish Farm Households," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-26, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marek Zieliński & Piotr Koza & Artur Łopatka, 2022. "Agriculture from Areas Facing Natural or Other Specific Constraints (ANCs) in Poland, Its Characteristics, Directions of Changes and Challenges in the Context of the European Green Deal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-22, September.
    2. Daria Motala & Karolina Grobelna, 2024. "Proven Solutions and Modern Methods of Sustainable Management of Agricultural Areas," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(Special A), pages 634-651.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2024:i:1:p:151-:d:1555104. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.