â€
The agriâ€food system
and its inefficiencies. Management
and sustainable valorization
of
food
waste.
- social
agriculture.
- microcredit in agriculture.
†The agriâ€food system
and its inefficiencies. Management
and sustainable valorization of
food
waste.
The research activity has
resulted in the analysis of the agriâ€food chain, from
production to
consumption, with the aim to
frame the inefficiencies of the system and specifically to assess
the
level and the reasons of
wastage. The research also aims to assess the impacts that have
food
waste in term of
environmental, social, nutritional and economic impact. In
particular the
environmental impact
evaluation , provides the application of Life Cycle Assessment
methodology
through the use of
inputâ€output tables. From the social point of view,
instead the goal is to assess
the impact that a potential
recovery of food wastes with social purposes has in terms of
relational
capital variation, and then
social capital.
The objective of research is
to obtain, for the first time in Italy, both in terms of scientific
results of
quantification of wastes, that
impact assessment, in order to:
a) direct the public
decisionâ€makers in the fields of waste prevention, recovery
of food waste for
the purpose of solidarity,
efficiency of agriâ€food system
b) promote initiatives to
combating food waste
†He has designed, implemented and promoted with
Professor Segrè, the Last
Minute Market
projects, whose aim is to
reclaim food and non food unsold products and distribute them
to
charity associations
(www.lastminutemarket.org).
From 2010 he has been
promoting with Professor Segrè, under the advocacy of the
European
Parliament, the campaign Un
anno contro lo spreco (A year against Waste) to raise Italian
and
European public awareness on
the causes and consequences of waste, on how to reduce it
and
how to promote a sound
scientific culture and civic principles oriented towards
sustainability and
solidarity. Each year the
overall theme of the waste is focused on a specific topic: food
(2010),
water (2011) and energy
(2012). Thanks to the campaign, the European Parliament has
decided
that the 2014 will be the
“European year against waste†(www.unannocontrolospreco.org)
†He has dealt for some time of social agriculture.
The aim of the research (DIANA
Disability In sustainable Agriculture: a New Approach for
training
of practitioners) was a
training for the practitioners who work with mental or psychiatric
disabled
employed (or available to be
employed) in agriculture. Throughout the development of
innovation
in the training addressed to
tutors, trainers and practitioners, this research aims at filling a
serious
double gap: the lack of
technical competencies of the trainers / tutors with psychological
or
educational background; the
lack of educational and psychological competencies of
agricultural
technicians. DIANA has tried
to fill in both these lacks. Thus, it is one of the first example
of
integrated training for
teachers, trainers and tutors working in the VET addressed
to
disadvantaged (and notably
disabled) people.
To fill this gap is extremely
relevant because social farming has positive effects for social
inclusion
and protection of environment
and already offers extraordinary possibilities of training and
jobs
for large groups of
disadvantaged persons.
†He has dealt for some time of microcredit in agriculture.
Microcredit and microfinance
are now recognized as one of the most effective instruments for
the
economic development of the
poorest. Confirmation of the effectiveness of this tool in the
fight
against poverty came in 2006
with the award of the Nobel Prize for the Peace to
Muhammad
Yunus, the acknowledged father
of modern microcredit. Microfinance and microcredit
therefore
play a key role in the fight
against poverty, but we must not fall into the trap of giving them
an
exclusive role. Infact the
credit alone is not a tool that can help alleviate "poverty of most
poor".
In rural areas and in
particular in the agricultural sector, the microcredit went to
meet, over the
years, a steady decline, and
then, in the last decade, review revalued the opportunity to use
this
instrument in
agriculture.
The research, conducted with
field surveys (Serbia, Senegal, Malawi, Bangladesh), has sought
to
highlight the major obstacles
and the elements that have reâ€launched its spread in
the last
decades.
