The #lanaturanonsiferma project is an information and awareness-raising campaign to assist workers and agricultural businesses in rural areas in dealing with the fallout from the health emergency, helping them to access assistance, state benefits and tax credits included in government decrees. The project is promoted by ASeS, the non-profit association of the Italian Confederation of Farmers (CIA), with the contribution of our Group, of Enea and the patronage of the Tuscan regional administration.
The initiative, which was presented in Rome on July 29th, was conceived during the lockdown in April in order to tackle the pandemic by taking action in prevention and solidarity. An initial phase, which involved workers from the food supply chain in Tuscany, provided personal protective equipment and food donations to those most affected by the emergency.
In August, the second phase of the project began. “Thanks to the collaboration of Enea and Enel, we’re extending the field of action to include rural areas across the entire country in order to support those people and small-scale farm businesses that face economic, social and geographical difficulties”, explained ASeS President Cinzia Pagni.
The beneficiaries are small-scale farm businesses with a turnover of 30,000 euros or less, the agritourism sector, small companies that sell their products directly to the public and farm cooperatives that work with society’s most vulnerable people.
“Agriculture is fundamental for our country”, underlined our Head of Italy, Carlo Tamburi. “We have supported the #lanaturanonsiferma project to provide a tangible contribution to participants in the agricultural sector as part of a sustainable recovery for Italy”.
The #lanaturanonsiferma tour will initially involve 50 towns and small municipalities in Tuscany. The project will then be extended to other, more remote rural areas that have been most affected by the crisis, with a particular focus on those in central and southern Italy.
Open-air information and awareness-raising events that comply with all of the relevant measures to contain and manage the health emergency, will be organised in the places involved. A mobile unit of experts from ASeS will present information about safeguarding health, education, and boosting agriculture, taking into account energy efficiency, with a particular focus on the incentives and benefits available through the “Relaunch Decree.” Information compiled by ASeS and CIA with the support of Enea, including a short guide to the tax credits available for energy upgrades and seismic safety improvements, will also be distributed.
“With ASeS-CIA we intend to raise awareness and provide skills, support and assistance in places where such help doesn’t always arrive”, Enea president Federico Testa explained. “Only in this way can farming ‘Made in Italy’ continue to be an engine of growth,” concluded CIA President Dino Scanavino.
Nature doesn’t stop, and neither should it be neglected.