Political actions oriented to territorial development : the multifunctional role of agriculture

In the present context of increasing competitiveness, inducted by the globalization process, to avoid being marginalized or given up, Italian socio-economic systems need to think out models of differentiated development on a local level and based on the exploitation of territorial resources. Taking into consideration that 92% of national surface is classified as rural, it is indispensable to think up models of development whose main reference point is agriculture. Agriculture is the productive activity which more than others set the characteristics of a territory and it takes on both the role of producer of goods and promoter of a socio-cultural and environmental context. Agriculture is not a separate sector but an entity strictly integrated with the other components of the socio-economic system and thanks to this it is able to play a fundamental role for the territorial development. The aim of this paper is to highlight the need to organize an adequate political action aimed at endorsing the multifunctional role of agriculture and to underline how agriculture operating in an integrated way with tourism, handcraft and the other territorial activities is strategic to develop and carry out a development model where the territory is the landmark.