Multifunctional farming in Emilia-Romagna region: an analysis through agricultural census data

This study presents a new approach to evaluate the level of multifunctionality at farm level adapting the H index of entropy proposed by Shannon (Shannon, 1963; Horowitz, 1970). Using the information gathered from the VI General Agricultural Census of 2010, the study offers a realistic snapshot of the intensity of the multifunctional character of farms located in Emilia-Romagna region. The findings of this explorative analysis suggest that it is possible to identify two opposite farm profiles. On the one hand, small “conventional” farms characterized by a multifunctionality index equal or close to zero recognized by Andersen et al. (2013) as “pensioners”. On the other, large farms in which entrepreneurs (and their families) are generally younger and more receptive to innovative ideas. Among these typologies there are numerous farms characterized by moderate levels of multifunctionality. The approach developed here contributes to fill the gap regarding the measurement of the intensity of multifunctionality at farm level.