Generational renewal in the Marche region: evaluation results on start-up aid for young farmers

Generational renewal is a central theme of rural development, which is why the Marche region chose an in-depth evaluation of the specific strategy that outlined this objective in the RDP to verify its effectiveness and guide future regional policies.

The 2014-2020 RDP of the Marche region activated Measure 6.1 A (start-up aid for young farmers) to encourage the entry of qualified under-40s into agriculture and combat the process of progressive ageing of the sector, the depopulation and environmental impoverishment of rural areas, as well as the loss of competitiveness by Marche farms.

This in-depth assessment starts with an investigation into the effectiveness of the choices made in response to the development needs established ex ante in the programme strategy. It also look at the future, aiming to contribute to a possible revision of the programme action in view of the CAP programming period of 2023-2027.

Specifically, the evaluator analysed and described the main characteristics of the projects financed thanks to the support for the first settlement of the previous two programming period. Then, it focuses on the context of the current programming, on the favourable elements and the most relevant problems encountered by the young beneficiaries during their start-up and/or implementation.

The evaluation described the strategy adopted by the Marche region to encourage the setting-up of young people in agriculture in the 2014-2020 RDP, analysing the Youth Package tool, returning the main implementation results and making a summary comparison with what was achieved during the 2007-2013 programming period, when the measure was implemented for the first time. This framework also describes the basic characteristics of the beneficiaries of the first settlement support (age, gender, geographical location, type of interventions activated within the Youth Package, additional funding/premiums from the RDP, etc.) and a geo-referenced analysis of the interventions financed for generational renewal was returned. Additionally, the evaluation also provides an analysis of the survival of newly established farms, in order to verify the sustainability over time of the support provided.

The results of direct investigations carried out by the evaluator on a sample of aid beneficiaries in the two different programmes, is also complemented by two case studies. The purpose was to provide evidence of the direct beneficiaries of RDP resources, not only with regard to the results achieved, but also to the strengths of the strategy, the identified problems, the continuity/discontinuity with the 2007-2013 experience and, more generally, the perception of the real contribution of the EAFRD to rural development.

Finally the main conclusions and recommendations emerging from the analysis are formulated and aimed at making useful suggestions for the continuation of regional rural development policies.