The primary goal of our project was to focus on enhancing the appeal of agroecology Adult Education programs specifically tailored for smallhold farmers, supported by silver knowledge and tools. By implementing the SILVERFarming project, the partnership: -strengthened resilience/sustainability and long-term competitiveness of smallholder organic farming through innovative adult education tools and practical learning opportunities. -supported farmers in adapting to current economic/environmental challenges by improving entrepreneurial/digital/managerial/sustainability-oriented competences relevant to organic and family-based farming. -developed an accessible educational framework combining curriculum development, training materials, workshops, digital learning resources and mobile learning solutions, and supporting tools. -preserved and transfer valuable “silver knowledge” from experienced farmers through video-based case studies, interviews and real-life examples promoting intergenerational learning. -improved digital communication, online marketing, networking and business management skills, while promoting environmentally responsible farming practices and inclusion of disadvantaged groups, women and rural communities.
Our project idea is grounded in several key realities affecting smallholder farming across Europe. Smallholder agriculture remains predominantly a family-based activity, representing 86.1% of farms (EUROSTAT, 2020). At the same time, the agricultural workforce is ageing, with most EU farm managers being older men: 68.4% were male in 2020, while 57.6% of all farm managers were aged 55 or above. Despite the increasing complexity of modern agriculture, only a limited proportion of farm managers possess formal agricultural education, with just 10.2% having received full agricultural training and 17.5% basic training in 2020. Furthermore, the sector continues to experience a decline in both the number of farms and people employed in agriculture, with agricultural employment decreasing from 6.4% of total EU employment in 2005 to 4.2% in 2020. Young farmers remain significantly underrepresented, declining from 7.3% of farm managers under the age of 35 in 2005 to only 6.5% in 2020. Against this background, the primary objective of our project was to strengthen the attractiveness/accessibility of agroecology for younger smallhold farmers, while "harvesting" the silver knowledge from older smallhold farmers, and create supporting training.