Donne, formazione e impresa nello sviluppo rurale

Agriculture faces new challenges such as globalisation, economic crisis and climate changes. Public policies and the market increasingly encourage agriculture in the direction of multifunctionality, diversification and sustainability. Gender studies in agriculture have highlighted that farms managed by women are more oriented to these issues, but their number and their participation in decision-making processes are still limited.Training has a strategic role in strengthening the presence of women in the agricultural sector and in developing their competences, fostering innovation and the adoption of more sustainable entrepreneurial models. This paper presents a research carried out in Piedmont to explore the relation between female entrepreneurism and training in agriculture. In-depth interviews with twenty-five women farmers were conducted using the life-history method. The results confirm the existence of gender differences in the farm management and in the entrepreneurship paths, and the fundamental role of training. This leads to the conclusion that, in terms of implementation of policies for the sustainable development of rural areas, decision-makers should pay close attention to the peculiarities of female entrepreneurship, as their contribution in this area is very important, developing new tools dedicated to women to encourage their training and participation in decision- making.