“ITALY NEEDS AN ”AGRICULTURAL REHABILITATION” POLICY FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED BUSINESSES, LIKE THE VITICULTURE MODEL THAT FOCUSES ON QUALITY, NOT QUANTITY” LORETTA NAPOLEONI TOLD WINENEWS

The global economic crisis, fast developing BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) economies and financial bubbles are threatening the so-called “first world” Western countries, like Italy. We saw it happen in Ireland and Iceland, where they had to convert their economies to agriculture to pay back debts to banks and industries. Loretta Napoleoni, an economist and contributor on major international newspapers, interviewed by WineNews, says that a similar possibility exists for Italy. “It was a minor trauma for Iceland and Ireland,” she says, “because their industrialization was relatively young. In Italy, however, where for 50 years we have abandoned farming for the industrial model, the transition would be very difficult”. What is needed, then, is a policy for “agricultural rehabilitation” for small and medium-sized enterprises, following the model already in place in wine production, not surprisingly the leader of Made in Italy products. The model focuses on quality and not quantity. Napoleoni’s “claim” that “Small is beautiful” in no way indicates an elitist or niche production, but an urgency for our production system towards exports. It is impossible to compete with countries like Argentina or the U.S. for example, in the production of wheat to be launched on the big emerging markets (China, India). Italy does not have the space to grow such crops. We need to focus on a “boutique” type production of high quality as well as on diversification, favoring concentration of resources. A national policy to help small producers through state projects and incentives is needed, and for this to work the fight against counterfeiting, black market and therefore evasion, cannot be ignored.