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Solidarity Economies in Marche, Italy: current trends and perspectives

Authors:

Matteo Belletti1, Francesco Orazi1, Marco Socci1, Marco Giovagnoli2, and Barbara Pojaghi3

Università Politecnica delle Marche1, Università degli studi di

Camerino2, Università degli studi di Macerata3

m.belletti@univpm.it

Session C4 – Agriculture in Italy, Tuesday 5th of June, 2012

Towards a Sustainable Bio-Economy: Economic Issues and Policy Challenges Trento, Italy| 4 – 5 June 2012

“Loneliness is for the spirit, what food is to the body.”

(Seneca)

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Contents

1. The research

2. Results

3. Interpretation of the results

4. Conclusions

1. The research

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Introduction

• The proposed paper illustrates selected results of an exploratory research study coordinated by the “Solidarity Economy Network” of the Marche Region in Italy (REES Marche) in 2010-2011.

• The study was funded by Banca Popolare Etica (Ethic Bank), it involved three Universities of the Region (Università Politecnica delle Marche, Università di Macerata, Università di Camerino), adopting an interdisciplinary approach ...

• ... within a wider context of “change” focussing on a process of cooperation among Universities and Civil Society– The active role of University in supporting the process– The strategy– Planning

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Objectives

• Exploring the experience of the Italian “GAS” (Gruppi di Acquisto Solidale, solidarity purchasing groups, Brunori et al., 2011): – What the sociological profile of the GAS members is.– how the GAS members and suppliers represent themselves

and the other actors present within its own GAS sphere.– How they judge their own choices and the choices of the other

GAS actors in perspective. – the embeddedness of the GAS suppliers in relation to their

participation in a “solidarity economy”– The food economy within GAS experience

• Key elements emerging from GAS practice

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Methodology • Exploratory structure aimed at investigating:

– the cultural, – political, and– economic determinants that characterize the world of critical

consumption in Marche, Italy.

• Data collection: • Face to face quanti-qualitative interviews, focus groups and in-depth

interview to a quota-sample of:– 20 GAS,– 182 GAS Household Members (GHMs),– 50 GAS suppliers (among which 20 agricultural GAS suppliers).

• Data analysis:• Sociological on GAS members:

– quanti-qualitative interviews.

• Sociological on GAS suppliers (firms)– quanti-qualitative interviews.

• Psycho-sociological on the actors of GAS network– Focus groups.

• Economic on GHMs and agricultural GAS suppliers– quanti-qualitative interviews. 6

2. Results

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The “galaxy” of GAS members:a sociological profile

• They are young individuals with a high level of education, the majority are female, with a middle-class social background.

• The GAS members (especially women) mainly perceive critical consumption as a tool with strong public and policy values and strong implication for redefining cultural and social claim.

• In some ways the GAS members emerge as an élite group that does not represent the worldwide society, but rather embed the shape of a new social movement of active citizenship (Orazi and Socci, 2011). – The GAS sociological structure:

• incentives inside the movement

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Active but not ideologist

GAS members: critical consumption

as a tool of renewal of democratic

participation

Ideologist GAS members: consumption as a

lever of radical transformation of the

economic model

Interested in establishing network of

relationship and trying alternative

consumption practices

Motivated by the possibility of saving and

purchasing “high quality” local foods

Pragmatic GAS members: less politically

actives, less ethical aware

Ethical oriented GAS members: critical to the

“dominant economic model”

GAS member type A

GAS member type B

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Exploring minority influence:a psycho-sociological profile inside GAS

• Their mutual liaison remain very unstable. • There is an abstract belief in the social function of the state

of minority active citizenship as a factor of social change (Pojaghi, 2011).

• To affect the social reality a relevant set of organization and communication skills is needed.

• Moscovici (1976) highlights that the social minority influence is possible only if the minority group is consistent and recognisable in its philosophy and objectives.

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“The new producers”: a sociological profile

• The conception of the network as a relational system was shown to be practiced in part, but not always considered a priority.

• The question of market organization was sometimes lived as personal hard work rather than a goal to be achieved together with a participatory approach and shared aims.

• There is ambivalence (Hirschman, 1983) in the upstream and downstream links especially with the Public institutions (upstream) and the GAS network (downstream).

• GASs suppliers activity may be viewed as a strategy of “the Exit” rather than that of “the Voice” (Hirschman, 1982). In fact, their activity inside the GAS network usually arise in a context alternative but no antagonist to the dominant economic model (Giovagnoli, 2011)

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Solidarity economy between social and political change: hypotheses on

symbolism and role of food.

• According to the approach of Duglas and Irshwood (1984) the food is a tool to interpret the reality.

• Food as a vehicle for values (institutions) that affect identity and social relationships

• Thus, the alternative consumption practices are not simply moved by an ecological and social motivation, rather they pursue a goal of communication.

• In this moment, in the ”GAS Planet” the concept of solidarity economy is a political driving force to action, while the creation of a self-managed short food supply chain (SFSC, Renting, 2003) is that action.

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Exploring the link between the political objects and the economic actions:

a picture of the food supply chain of the Italian “GAS” solidarity purchasing groups

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The GAS as food retailer

• GAS average size: – 70 households, – range min-max 12-190 households,– 50% of them (GASs) consisting of 33 to 95 households

• GAS household size: – Average family size approaching three members

• Household food expenditure through the GAS : – On average 130 Euros per month, accounting for ca. 20% of the

average food expenditure of Italian households (Istat, 2011).– 25% of the GHM interviewed said their food bill is 200 to 500

Euros per month– 53% of the GHM interviewed stated that the GAS is the main

channel for their food purchases.

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Supply

• Farmer type A: having GAS as the main outlet;

• Farmer type B: providing only surpluses from his other market channels to GAS;

• Farmer type C: using GAS together with and complementarily to other SFSC (e.g. farm outlet for direct selling, direct selling to school refectories, etc.).

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Demand

• Family replacement capacity (it is the result of a PCA analysis) of conventional distribution with GAS distribution:– The highest substitution capability of GAS in Marche, Italy

• pasta• rice • flours • other cereal derivatives• extra virgin olive oil • Honey• sugar • coffee, tea & other non-alcoholic beverages

The simultaneous growth in GAS purchasing of different product categories is related to products requiring little organisational capacity in terms of distribution and intermediaries (Belletti, 2011): stockable no perishable products, requiring less frequent

restocking; ii) typical local products that are easily purchased in farms

found close to towns; and iii) products easily bought from fair trade outlets.

3. Interpretation of the results

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From the political incentives to the economic actions

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Our own “Truman Show”

• Issue n.1 In which part of the film are we working?

- Truman’s awareness (bounded rationality)

• Issue n.2 Will our hero survive the storm in his small boat Santa

Maria?- Truman’s determination (impact on supply chain)

• Issue n.3 Will our hero choose to EXIT? - Truman’s freedom (willingness to pay for the change)

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Christof’s control

• Issue n.1 The GAS market functioning in a SFSC

• The matter of agricultural income

• Issue n.2The Italian agri-food market• The hidden effect of competition on quality-price ratio

is a sensitive spread between supply and demand values

• Issue n.3The price and quality relationship• Quality labels and certificates are among the most widely used methods

to compensate for information asymmetry in food markets. Nevertheless food safety (along with quality certification and environmental impact of production) remains a credence attribute (Poulton and Lyne, 2009).

21Source: our elaboration

SFSC “income generation”

Figure 2. Horticultural product-mix price and incidence of Family Farm Labour Opportunity Cost (FFLOC) on Average Total Cost

(ATC) in Marche, Italy (Euros per kilogram)

Remember Farmer type C

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Towards the EXIT • Issue n.1

Prices• SFSC seems to be a necessary condition to face the ecological dimension

of agricultural sustainability issues but is not sufficient to solve the economic problems of farm households. As a result, Gas household members should shift their focus from the prices to price construction.

• Issue n.2 Quality• It can be argued that market behaviour is a key element regarding which

GAS should not rely on labels as a guarantee of differentiation, and this is true the more extensive the area in which the label works (as EU organic farming).

• Issue n.2Market organization • The GAS movement should veer towards a system of self-certification for

food, maybe at a regional level, based on taking into account two key elements of agri-food chain suitability in the short and in the long run. The first, at a strictly agronomical level, is the local climate and habitat. The second, at a wide ecological level, is the entire agri-food supply chain structure, highlighting the crucial role of agricultural inputs (see issue n. 5).

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Towards the EXIT • Issue n.4

Democracy and anti-democracy • This study does not support a “panacea” vision of GAS experience

(Brunori et. al, 2011). But it is right to emphasize that at the base of this movement it is possible to find an anti-democratic ethos. And this anti-democratic ethos is essential, only apparently in a contradiction manner (Bauman, 2007; Furedi, 2009), to revive democracy.

• Issue n.5Democracy and agriculture: moving from the Short (SFSC) to the Seeds & Food Supply Chains (S&FSC)

• The organic food, while in a self-managed SFSC, does not provide a decentralization process of the row material property and control.

• Even the organic agriculture, being based on monoculture in the same way of the conventional agriculture, provides an agricultural industrial process.

• The organic seeds are industrial seeds as much as the conventional ones.• Thus, the GAS movement should highlighting the crucial role of seeds

(Shiva, 2005) towards a social and ecological sustainable economy.

...and thanks for your attention!

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“In case I don't see you ... good afternoon, good evening, and good night” (Truman Burbank alias Jim Carrey, The Truman Show, 1998)