UPA claims the role of agrarian activity as a brake on rural depopulation
The Union of Small Farmers (UPA) has presented its 2017 annual family agriculture report on July 12th, at a large event held in Madrid, which has become a plea for the essential role played by agriculture and livestock as rural promoters, and guarantors of the continued existence of peoples living and generating employment and wealth in their territory.
Secretary General of UPA: “we are convinced that where there is agriculture and livestock there is life and the depopulation is stopped”
For Lorenzo Ramos, “the depopulation of the rural areas supposes an increase of the inequalities and the imbalances between regions and counties and we must fight against this serious problem”. The event, which has also hosted the awards of the Foundation for Rural Studies, has analyzed alternatives to promote a rural environment “alive and with a future”.
On the occasion of the presentation of its Yearbook of Family Agriculture, which UPA has been publishing since 1994, the Organization has sought to draw attention to the problem of abandonment of rural populations, which the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) pressing “at 4,000 the number of Spanish municipalities at risk of extinction in the short and medium term”.
The event hosted a round table discussion, which concluded that agriculture and livestock farming generate a great need for parallel activities in sectors such as services and industry
“It is demonstrated that the regions and localities in which the primary activity develops strongly, the population is not reduced”, said UPA.
Aware of the key role of family agriculture in the fight against depopulation and abandonment of rural areas, UPA has proposed the development of policies and positive actions towards professionals who, together with their families, embark on related business initiatives to agriculture and livestock, with special attention to rural women and youth.
UPA has also reiterated its demand for a national strategy for the rural environment, far beyond what concerns the agricultural activity itself
For this organization, the future of farmers and ranchers is the maintenance of the CAP and the existence of a market that allows for fair prices, but also for the equalization of quality of life from rural to urban.
Recognition of commitment and defense of the world
Jesus Calleja, after receiving his award.
Coinciding with this presentation, UPA has also presented the prizes of its Foundation for Rural Studies to individuals and institutions that love and defend the rural world. In this edition – the number 17 – the awards have been granted to the cooperative COVAP, the adventurer and popularizer Jesús Calleja, the writer from Extremadura, Inmaculada Chacón, the cattleman transhumant Miguel Cabello, the Galician Raul Bacelar and the Asturian Rosa Maria Nicieza, to Union leader and farmer jienense Jacinto López and the cunicultora Maria Jesus Martín Sanz.
Download the PDF of the Family Agriculture Yearbook 2017
Source: UPA
