Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The integrated rural development, where agriculture can be interrelated
with other sectors, seems to be an interesting way to promote territorial
branding and potentiating the endogenous products.
The related industries (food, wood, cork, paper, etc.) and services (restau-
rants, accommodation, consulting services, etc.) can afford an important
contribution to this integrated development, but policies are needed to pre-
vent the movement of economic activity and the population from rural to
urban zones. The policies must improve accessibility, reducing the costs of
transportation and communication, and improving both the basic and
nonbasic infrastructures available in these rural zones. However, in Portugal
over the coming years and considering the economic and financial crisis this
will prove to be difficult, but with some imagination it will be possible to find
some solutions.
The landscapes of farms often afford the farmers with enormous potenti-
alities to explore other sources of income, by increasing the multifunc-
tionality of agriculture, namely when the farming activity is not sufficient
for the farmer to obtain reasonable earnings for their household. But this often
requires some strategies in order to promote well organized alternative
activities with significant welfare for society.
Either way, the literature shows that any solution for rural areas must take
into account the farmers and the rural economic and social operators, because
they know these areas and their dynamics well and can consequently help in
the design of adjusted strategies. Several aforementioned studies have been
carried out in many European countries which prove this conclusion. Indeed,
the local dynamics are extremely specific and must be considered during any
successful approach.
The data description shows that the context in Portuguese municipalities is
not an exception to those verified in other countries. There is evidence of
desertification in rural regions (interior of Portugal) with some congestion in
urban areas (littoral, namely north, center, and around Lisbon). Indeed, the
concentration for the output of the economic activities considered is greater in
the areas around Oporto, Lisbon, and other smaller urban regions of the north
and center. It will be important to find adjusted strategies to bring these
economic dynamics to the interior so as to promote more positive external-
ities for agriculture. On the other hand, the greater number of farms with
multifunctionality can be found in the interior.
The results obtained in the econometric estimations reveal that the contri-
bution of these activities developed both inside and outside of farms provides
a marginal contribution to agricultural performance (when they have statis-
tical significance), but the majority do in fact have a positive effect, which
makes for an interesting start.
(continued)
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