The new President of Anga, the association that brings together the young people of Confagricoltura is Sicilian, he is 33 years old, he is not the heir to a family business but an entrepreneur who has chosen agriculture as his future. First & Food asked Mastrandrea for a "self-portrait" that also defines the lines that will guide his action at the top of the young people of Confagricoltura.
“I manage 40 hectares of olive growing in the province of Messina, in Tusa and Capo d'Orlando, on the hills facing the archipelago of the Aeolian Islands. I specialized in the production of extra virgin olive oil from native cultivars of Tyrrhenian Sicily. And, after completing my business studies and working as a business consultant, I chose to bet on agriculture in the round, becoming part of that large group of "under 35": more than 3.500 young people a year, who choose to change their lives and get involved in the primary sector.
“Today I can't think of a different job, I am proud to have become a farmer: I built my farm practically from scratch. The absence of a family tradition behind me has led me to face an unknown world from a professional and entrepreneurial point of view. I started gradually, being careful not to overdo it, and I also had complicated moments, which prompted me to delve into all the development issues and to interface with the problems we face every day.
Focus on entrepreneurial, innovative and international agriculture, with an attentive eye to sustainability and new technologies, because only with this mentality will we be able to have a significant impact on reposition our industry, which deserves all the opportunities and attention of other economic sectors.
The young entrepreneur must aim high, being able to count on research, product traceability, sustainability, technology, with a European and global vision of the primary sector. In these three years, as president of the young people of Confagricoltura, my goal, which I will pursue together with my team, is to make the Association increasingly oriented towards the personal and professional growth of the members and young people who do or will do business in our sector .
To do this tools are needed for the valorisation of companies, which start from specialized training to facilitating supply chain links and which allow all entrepreneurs to be able to do their job better with sustainable and quality productions, which give satisfaction to both those who produce them and those who consume them. As young people and as entrepreneurs, we experience firsthand the delicate moment for the Italian economic system in general and especially for the agricultural sector.
Global economic conditions put our companies and our future to the test. However, we do not want to give up, because our work is not only our present and future, but has the advantage of being, at the same time, fascinating and very important, because we produce what is the basis of existence for the whole world: food . And from this we must start not only for produce it better and better in terms of quality and sustainability, returning the added value it deserves also in terms of income, but above all to bring fully into the thinking of the community that agriculture is not the weak link in the food chain, but the strong one. And that she should be given the attention she deserves”.
