Rural youth and Catalunya's 2014-2022 RDP

This report aims to present the main results of the impact of Catalonia's 2014-2022 RDP on the young population, examine different actions that support it and carry out a territorial analysis of the region.

Among the ongoing evaluation tasks foreseen for the RDP of Catalonia, the specific evaluation of relevant topics on which the RDP has an impact was proposed. With this in mind, the evaluation team and the Managing Authority decided to develop the analysis on the impact of the RDP on rural young people in the region.

In 2015, the European Commission declared support for young farmers to be one of the priorities of the EU's development policy for 2015-2020. This was reflected in Priority 2 (focal area 2B: facilitating the entry into the agricultural sector of well-trained farmers and generational renewal). The 2023-2027 CAP focuses on generational renewal and addresses the needs of young farmers through knowledge, innovation, business development, investment support, Erasmus exchanges, etc. One of the nine Specific Objectives (SO) that the CAP will have to respond to SO7 is “Attracting young farmers and facilitating business development in rural areas”. The actions responding to this objective will be articulated mainly through one of eight interventions under the national CAP Strategic Plan "Youth and start-up (Article 69)". They will focus on establishing young farmers, new entrants and the start-up of rural businesses.

As a result of this analysis, a total of 3 038 young beneficiaries have been identified in the current programming period, whose physical location in the application for the aid(s) was within Catalonia. This value represents 16.07% of the total analysed files for all measures.

The methodology used for the development of this report has integrated documentary analysis with a participatory approach, insofar as it has sought the contribution of managers of RDP measures.

The utilised data for the statistical and documentary analysis included (1) the RDP operations database; (2) an examination of statistical sources; (3) information from the 2014-2022 RDP of Catalonia; (4) studies and actions of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA); and (5) other regional RDPs.

It was necessary to collect specific information that would generate detailed knowledge about the objective of the report. To obtain this primary information, in-depth interviews have been carried out,

In conclusion, the data show that the rural territory of Catalonia faces demographic problems with a low representation of the young population and shows an overall downward trend.

In the agricultural sector, the percentage of farm managers under 35 years of age is also decreasing, although the training of young people is increasing. Youth unemployment in rural areas is decreasing, which may be influenced by the impact of the RDP, specifically by LEADER Measure 19.