Change at the top of Coldiretti, the powerful agricultural organization of direct farmers. Ettore Prandini, 46, from Brescia with three children and in turn the son of the former Minister of Public Works Gianni, is the new National President of Coldiretti. He was unanimously elected by the Assembly of delegates from all the regions gathered at Palazzo Rospigliosi in Rome, the headquarters of the largest agricultural enterprise organization in Italy with 1,6 million members.
A law graduate, Prandini leads a dairy cattle farm and manages a winery with the production of Lugana. Since 2006 he has been at the helm of Coldiretti Brescia while since 2012 he has been at the top of Coldiretti Lombardia. Since 2013 he has also been Vice President of the Italian Breeders Association and President of the Italian Experimental Institute “L. Spallanzani”. He was elected National President of Coldiretti after holding the position of National Vice President for four years.
"In such an important moment with challenges and changes for our country, Made in Italy agri-food represents a certainty from which to start to grow the economy and employment but also to protect the environment, the territory and the safety of citizens" he explains the President of Coldiretti Ettore Prandini who adds: "Farmers are doing their part but we can and must give more by creating the conditions to guarantee income to businesses, relaunching a system capable of offering fairer prices to production, less bureaucracy and greater competitiveness, starting from a policy of free trade agreements that do not penalize our products internationally up to a Community law for origin labeling that guarantees true transparency and freedom of choice for consumers.”.
Prandini takes the helm of a growing organization that has extended its representation from individual companies to cooperatives, from the agricultural sector to that of fishing, from traditional agriculture to the agri-food chain with farms, markets, and shops in Campagna Amica and the project for an all-Italian agricultural supply chain. Coldiretti, founded in 1944, has 1,6 million members and is a great social force that represents the absolute majority of companies operating in Italian agriculture, making it the largest Italian and European agricultural organization to which approximately 70 percent of the members of the Chambers of Commerce among the representative organizations.
Coldiretti is also the first agricultural employers' organization in terms of the number of companies hiring labour. Its diffusion is capillary throughout the national territory: 20 regional federations, 95 interprovincial and provincial federations, 853 Area Offices and 4.143 municipal sections. In practice, the organization is present in almost every municipality in our country. The Coldiretti system includes, among other things, Creditagri Italia, the first "bank" of Italian farmers and the Campagna Amica Foundation which includes 7.502 farms, 1.187 markets, and 2.352 agritourisms to which are added shops, restaurants and urban vegetable gardens , for a total of over 8.200 points of sale.
Ettore Prandini will be joined by the new confederal council composed of the three vice presidents Nicola Bertinelli (Emilia Romagna) and David Granieri (Lazio) and Gennaro Masiello (Campania) as well as by Maria Letizia Gardoni (Marche), Francesco Ferreri (Sicily), Daniele Salvagno ( Veneto), Savino Muraglia (Puglia) and Roberto Moncalvo (Piedmont). This is the youngest junta ever with an average age of 41 years and 9 months, slightly higher than the average of the presidents of the Coldiretti Federations in the area which is 43 years and 10 months, also the lowest in history.
