Reagrarianization: notes on Catalonia’s rural agenda and the agri-food system
This article examines the Rural Agenda of Catalonia as a strategic policy instrument aimed at addressing the structural inequalities affecting rural areas. It traces the Agenda’s emergence, planning and implementation, while situating it within the broader European policy framework. Particular attention is given to Challenge 4 of the Agenda, which focuses on the agri-food system. The article demonstrates how the actions derived from the Agenda are integrated within a wider strategic approach, and how specific policy tools could become key mechanisms for promoting the reagrarianization of rural territories and the relocalization of food systems. The analysis highlights a set of innovative instruments that support generational succession in agriculture, progressive pathways into farming, and the economic viability of small-scale farms and local food processing projects. Although these initiatives operate primarily at the local scale, the article argues that the coordinated responses promoted by the Agenda have the potential to generate transformative effects beyond the local level.
SDG
Marc González-PuenteDoctor of Anthropology and Communication from the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), with master degrees in urban Anthropology, Migrations and Social Intervention from the URV, and in Global Change and Climate Change from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). He also holds a bachelor degree in Environmental Sciences from the UAB. Currently, he serves as the technical coordinator of the Association of Rural and Maritime Initiatives of Catalonia. He is interested in fostering dialogue between technical and academic fields, specializing in the ethnographic and multidisciplinary analysis of contemporary transformations in rural areas. He has participated in various projects related to the food system, deagrarization processes and generational agricultural renewal, local adaptations to climate change, and the analysis of territorial governance frameworks, among others. He has taught Economic Anthropology in the degree programmes for Anthropology and Human Evolution at the URV-UOC and is a member of the Research Group in Social Anthropology (GAS).
Eduard Trepat DeltellA geographer with a master in Mountain Zone Development, he also serves as Coordinator and Assistant Manager of the Association of Rural Initiatives of Catalonia, part of Catalonia’s Catalan Network of Leader Groups. He has organized conferences on communal goods, transhumance, and dry stone in Lleida. As a specialist in rural geography, he approaches rural territories with an integrated perspective, promoting a view that combines natural and cultural heritage alongside public policies and sustainable territorial management. For over fifteen years, he has led rural development projects focused on issues such as demographics, repopulation, heritage, and rural education. He oversees the Atlas of the Rural World and is the leader and promoter of the Rural Agenda of Catalonia (Catalan Rural Pact). Additionally, he is a member of the Centre of Regional Studies in Segrià.
