Helping Alpine farmers
The promotion of sustainable agriculture in the Alpine mountains is becoming increasingly important to the region's citizens and administrators. Agriculture has a strong presence throughout the Alpes, despite its decline in recent years, supporting this sector is considered vital to its economy and community. The IMALP project has been concerned with developing practical advice on implementing collective actions that are implemented at the local level in the region. It produced a handbook for local activists, advisory services, training institutions and administrators in the field of agriculture and rural development. It stresses the importance of improving the quality of the products originating in the region and supporting the role agriculture plays in rural development. The handbook differs from previous literature on the subject in that it places its focus on implementing actions; where as other guides have limited themselves to the designing phase of such actions. Furthermore, it has placed great importance on the involvement of a broad variety of actors and institutions in the project. The project itself set out as one of its overall goals to place farmers at the epicentre, by giving them the opportunity to manage with a new form of local governance. It presented the implementation of a consistent set of actions in favour of sustainable agriculture and rural development. Preparing farmers to participate in groups addressing rural development helps them realise their empowerment to play a more active role and agriculture's importance for the future of a local area.
