Family and organic farming. New apprenticeship through m-learning

Recently, family farming has become a central element in the public debate over its fundamental role in rural areas. Family farms ensure agricultural and forestry production, as well as fishing and grazing, managed by a family that mostly depends on unpaid family labour, both women and men. From the 570 million farms in the world, over 500 million are family farms. There are numerous examples in which, through organic farming, family farming can be lead to new heights of success and innovation, with direct increase in the farm income. The benefits that may accrue from the adoption of organic farming on family farms in Mediterranean countries such as Portugal, Italy and Spain are analysed, together with its impact and major constraints, as well as the contribution that new forms of teaching and learning can give to its spread and success, including through m-learning, as it is the case of the project ECONewFARMERS - Building a future for new farmers in ecological farming through vocational training.

Keywords

Family farming Organic farming Vocational training M-learning

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.19/2345

Citation

Costa CA, Correia P, Correia HE, Guiné RPF, Gouveia JP, Rodrigues P, Teixeira D, Touriño L, Castro M, Basile S. (2014) Family and organic farming. New apprenticeship through m-learning. IFOAM Organic World Congress 2014 ‘Building organic bridges’, Istambul, Turquia, 9 pp.