Social farming in Catalonia (Spain): Social innovation and agroecological dynamization as employment for exclusion

© 2014 CEDDAR. All right reserved. Social Farming (SF) is an emerging phenomenon in rural and peri-urban areas in European countries. SF outfits agriculture of new functions and meanings, beyond food production. In the current socioeconomic context, SF is a social innovation practice arising from civil society to create a new field for occupation of social exclusion. The creation of SF initiatives points out recent shortcomings in the welfare system. This paper presents an approach to the SF concept, analyzing the phenomenon in Catalonia through case studies. Our study provides evidences that SF also contributes to health care services provision in rural and peri-urban areas and local development through new economic and organizational practices strengthening the agroecological paradigm.