Family Farms in South Tyrol: An agriculture innovation case study

The cultivation of apples in South Tyrol dates back to at least the sixteenth century. Over the course of more recent decades, it has been characterized by historical, cultural, social, political, geographical, and economic factors. These led to apple cultivation becoming the single most important sector of occupation within South Tyrol agriculture, with over eight thousand family farms working a total area of 19,000 hectares (47,000 acres). South Tyrol currently produces half of all of the apples sold in Italy, 15% of the apples on the European market, and 2% of the supply for the entire world.

The success story of the South Tyrol apple industry is based upon a highly developed and adaptable network of stakeholders consisting of producers, their cooperatives and associations, research institutions, agricultural consulting services, and other public and private players that organized themselves after the Second World War. The so-called “Learning and Innovation Network for Sustainable Agricultural” (LINSA) is a network in which new knowledge is exchanged or further developed. It is characterized by the close collaboration of all members and their sound knowledge regarding problems that are inherent to their own economic branch.

The basic principles that were defined by Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen of self-help, self-administration, self-responsibility, and member promotion are the anchor of this LINSA. In the end, the South Tyrolean apple producers have turned it into a genuinely unique system. Their wealth of ideas and their powers of innovation have been the decisive factors for their success.

The analysis first and foremost scrutinizes the origin and development of the various institutions and the creation of linkages within the LINSA. Its development is analyzed in five phases.

Please click here to view the 5 phases and read the full report.