Young farmers represent the economic bulk of European rural areas; territories that make up from 40% to 80% of every European nation Eurostat data (2016) affirm that more than 30% of workers in agricultural field are so called “Young Farmers” (<40 y/o). As the EU Commission recognised, the role of these very young entrepreneurs occupies a critical dimension within the socio-economic system fabric – so much that the EU affirmed that “THE FUTURE IS RURAL”. Some EU reports (“Young Farmers: Policy Implementation after 2013 CAP Reform”, EU Parliament Oct. 2017; “EIP Agri Focus Group on New Entrants to Farming”, EU Commission 2016; “Needs of Young Farmers” EU Commission Nov. 2015) clearly identify the need of a strong entrepreneurial and risk management training (as well as new technologies) from which targets can benefit Low digital skills combined with the missing integration of Digital tools, are two factors that inhibit the competitiveness of young farmers business and the exploitation of missing opportunities. In addition to that, there are sever factors to be considered: I) The Time: farmers do not have enough time to dedicate to traditional training, mostly because these services are provided by specialised centres that are located out of their reach II) The Cost: both direct (the enrolment fee) and indirect costs (time spent on training) III) The relevance of the existing training: the solutions currently offered by the markets are more specialised on traditional means and very little is taught about digital solutions and ICT tools for rural entrepreneurship The ultimate objectives of the next Common Agricultural Policy see young farmers as the main object of its policies: however, young farmers’ competitiveness is threatened by several key factors: A) a lack of entrepreneurial training B) a lack of digital skills solutions C) the unpredictable development of the market dynamics related to the primary sector D) the competitive pressure represent by big industrial value chain Said so, there is the existing necessity to valorise, enhance and support these fragile working categories leveraging on innovative entrepreneurial solutions applied to agriculture Project’s OBJECTIVE: YOUNG FARMERS aims to valorise a sustainable and competitive growth path for young farmers providing them a set of training tools properly customised on their major needs. The content of the training addresses: - Communication and ICT skills - Digital and innovative management models for agriculture - Internationalisation and EU single market - Challenges and opportunities consequent to the adoption of such business framework - EU initiatives for young farmers The YOUNG FARMERS Partnership is represented by a heterogeneous sample of VET institutions and targets representatives both from public and private sector. 7 partners from 5 different nations bring in a wide range of complementary backgrounds and know-hows that will allow great benefits and impact not only for the targets, but also for the overall sum of stakeholders that have high expectations for this project As previously mentioned, the PRIMARY TARGET group is represented by young farmers from rural and EU areas in need of strong and reliable digital and training solutions to enhance and valorise the competitiveness of their small businesses. The SECONDARY TARGET consists of socio-economic actors who daily operates within the entrepreneurship support systems such as business consultants, trade, communication and marketing experts, ICT providers, Chambers of Commerce, Category Associations, international trade experts, Public sector representatives, Academia and research centres. Each group will be proactively engaged at any implementation stage of the project (Horizontal activities of project development and transversal priorities). 120 Primary targets representative will be highly involved in IO3, when it comes to testing and validating the project results. All main Groups of Interest are already represented in the RELAY project thanks to the presence of complementary Associated Partners and policy makers who endorse the project The Consortium foresee 4 main results: -O1 YOUNG FARMERS OER Platform translated in each language that is represented within the Consortium -O2 The Mapping and stock taking on empowering paths for Young Farmers plus a formal document that finalise and systemise the singular national findings. -O3 The training toolkit and its T&V on 120 targets. It clearly represents the main asset of the project, all partners will contribute on its development on the basis of their specific expertise -O4 The guidelines for further uptake plus policy recommendations, in order to allow the mainstreaming of the project results and their replicability across the EU territory – independently from the temporal and geographical limits of the partnership About IMPACTS and BENEFITS: YOUN FARMERS is strategically aligned to the most relevant EU pr
Considering the above identified needs and challenges, which young farmers are facing, the project was aimed to sustain the growth and competitiveness of young farmers across EU by developing free, open, multilingual and web-based training on relevant business, ICT and digital entrepreneurship courses. Project’s OBJECTIVES: YOUNG FARMERS aimed to valorize a sustainable and competitive growth path for young farmers providing them a set of training tools properly customized on their major needs. The content of the training addresses: -Fundamentals of digital entrepreneurship applied to farming; -Business and Competitive Strategies; -ICT tools for farmers to enter foreign markets; -Project Management; -Digital Marketing and Communication in Agriculture; -Stakeholder Management: The EntreComp perspective of "Mobilising Others"; -EU Incentives for Agriculture and Rural; -Internationalisation and Export Management / Customer Relationship Management / Export Management; -Green Management: Sustainable thinking according to the EntreComp Framework.
44% to 80% of every EU country is rural areas and around 32% of workers in agricultural sector are “Young Farmers”. By the time, the project application was submitted, its background was in accordance to the social objectives of the new Common Agricultural Policy, as follow: 1. To promote employment, growth, social inclusion and local development in rural areas; 2. To attract young farmers and facilitate business development in rural areas; 3. To improve response to societal demands on sustainable agriculture, environment and animal welfare. It was researched, that young farmers are facing important barriers to engage in training: 1. TIME: young farmers face lack of time to go to traditional trainings; 2. COST: direct costs (enrolment fees) and indirect costs (time to go to training); 3. RELEVANCE: not enough trainings on new technologies and digital entrepreneurship integration in farming. Considering the above identified needs, during application stage, following target groups were identified and covered by the project: young farmers, the ecosystem of entrepreneurship facilitation of young farmers as well as the VET system on entrepreneurship, digital entrepreneurship and farming.