It cannot be overlooked because it is worth 500 billion euros and 3,5 million workers. Sustainable agri-food is among the sectors most affected by the lockdown. Its recovery will be central to the redesign of the Italian economy. According to the Centro Studi l'Uomo e l'Ambiente of Padua, great attention must be paid to the sector, squeezed, among other things, between different provisions of the single Regions. Typical case is the delivery of food at home, here and there allowed.
The various agri-food chains, says the latest study by the Centre, from agricultural production to the processing industry and the distribution of products, in 2019 confirmed that they are a driving force for the Italian economy. However, during the coronavirus crisis, the entire agricultural and food world was able to respond effectively to the demand for products. But the general lockdown since 9 March has put many other businesses in crisis. The Horeca sector (Hôtellerie, Restaurant, Café) which is worth 76 billion euros in turnover, is identified with public establishments for the preparation and administration of food, cannot imagine the methods of recovery. It employs a lot of foreign labor and the Regions most affected by the pandemic are at the top of the rankings for non-Italian added value. The less strong structures risk disappearing from the market. It is not even clear how those with sustainable and quality processing cycles will be able to withstand the competition from the big brands. So far they have been a pride of Italy, but from 4 May (without unexpected events) to the end of the year, we don't know. Coldiretti, for his part, recalls in these hours that the milk production chain, due to the lack of foreign manpower, is going through a moment of great precariousness, which benefits the import of milk and curds from abroad.
The high availability of technology of multinationals and the phenomenon of monoculture at the Padua Study Center are interpreted as the reduced entrepreneurial strength of small and medium-sized farmers together with consumer choices for a limited use of food plant biodiversity. The upheaval from Covid 19 has not spared wine and the 23 agritourism companies. All the while the political singers of national sovereignty pretend to ignore that the lack of foreign manpower "will be felt more acutely as the season progresses, during the harvesting period of agricultural products in the fields and greenhouses". Think of a new scenario that is even greener and more competitive, in an integrated system with sustainability objectives environmental, is what the Paduan experts hope, and not only them. The litmus test will be the next measures for the end of the lockdown. Among Conte's experts, someone will know what to say.
