The overall aim of the project was to promote the preservation of agricultural biodiversity. To achieve this, the project wanted and has created a learning platform linking information on the cultivation of old varities with two valorization strategies. Linking the cultivation of old varities with valorization strategies, the project provides an economic perspective in the way of three niche markets for small and family farms.
The agricultural sector is challenged by at least two developments. First, small and family farms are struggeling under market pressures to grow. Second, the agricultural sector is affected by and strongly contributes to ecological crisis such as climate change or the loss of biodiversity among others. The project Niche Market Farming addresses the need for small and family farms to identify niche markets to exist in addition to further growing agricultural enterprises. Cultivating old varieties can be such as niche as it is not as profitable on a large scale. The lower productivity of old varieties has to be compensated by a premium price. A premium price can be achieved in niche markets like for organic products or products labeled with geographic indications. Whereas organic production is an approach to be implemented by an individual farmer, geographic indications require a groupd of producers.