A long-term vision for rural areas: a case study of Sicilian farms

Figures & data

Figure 1. Distribution of sampled farms by local action group (LAG).

Table 1. Variables.

Variable	Definition	Respondents	Yes
Males	Dummy variable = 1 if the farmer is male; 0 otherwise	148	82%
Age	Categorical variable indicating the age of farmer:
	< 30 years	148	16%
	30–40 years	148	22%
	41–50 years	148	24%
	51–60 years	148	18%
	≥ 60 years	148	20%
Outside Regional Market	Dummy variable = 1 if the farm also sells outside the regional market; 0 otherwise	145	30%
Family Business	Dummy variable = 1 if farmer’s family members work in the farm; 0 otherwise	147	56%
Certifications	Dummy variable = 1 if the farm has at least one certification (ISO 22000, ISO 9001, IFS and BRC, Global GAP or DOP-IGP); 0 otherwise	142	42%
ICTs	Dummy variable = 1 if the farm uses websites or social media; 0 otherwise	144	40%
Innovation	Dummy variable = 1 if the farm has introduced over the last three years technological or non-technological innovations; 0 otherwise	145	43%
Environmental Sustainability	Dummy = 1 if the farm uses renewable energies or ecological products or chooses sustainable suppliers; 0 otherwise	145	75%
Social Sustainability	Dummy = 1 if the farm provides training courses on and health and safety for employees or collaborates on charitable projects for the local community or discloses its sustainable aims in official documents; 0 otherwise	145	62%
Economic Sustainability	Dummy = 1 if the farm adopts sustainable practices to attract investors or to improve its economic performance; 0 otherwise	140	56%

Figure 2. Farmers’ vision by local action group (LAG).

Figure 3. Farmers’ attitude to change.

Table 2. Farms: vision – ordered probit model.

		Marginal effects
Variables	Vision	Short-Term Vision	Long-Term Vision (low)	Long-Term Vision (medium)	Long-Term Vision (high)
Age	0.668***	−0.136***	−0.0523**	0.0341**	0.155***
	(0.216)	(0.0465)	(0.0227)	(0.0159)	(0.0487)
Male	0.190	−0.0378	−0.0138	0.00772	0.0439
	(0.284)	(0.0580)	(0.0191)	(0.0127)	(0.0642)
Outside Regional Market	1.036***	−0.160***	−0.161***	0.0264	0.294***
	(0.256)	(0.0362)	(0.0543)	(0.0172)	(0.0777)
Family Business	0.371	−0.0728	−0.0324	0.0172	0.0879
	(0.230)	(0.0456)	(0.0233)	(0.0131)	(0.0547)
Certifications	0.458**	−0.0866**	−0.0448	0.0203*	0.111**
	(0.219)	(0.0404)	(0.0273)	(0.0118)	(0.0549)
Metropoli Est	Reference	Reference	Reference	Reference	Reference
ISC Madonie	−0.844***	0.191***	0.0596*	−0.0647**	−0.186***
	(0.307)	(0.0721)	(0.0352)	(0.0309)	(0.0677)
Rocca di Cerere Geopark	−0.316	0.0591	0.0393	−0.0178	−0.0806
	(0.278)	(0.0525)	(0.0369)	(0.0169)	(0.0714)
Sicani	0.378	−0.0507	−0.0652	0.00595	0.110
	(0.304)	(0.0405)	(0.0548)	(0.00880)	(0.0891)
Observations	129	129	129	129	129

Note: The first column reports estimates, while the other four columns show marginal effects. Standard errors are shown in parentheses.

Table 3. Attitude to change – probit models.

Variables	ICTs	Innovation	Environmental Sustainability	Social Sustainability	Economic Sustainability
Short-Term Vision	Reference	Reference	Reference	Reference	Reference
Long Term Vision (low)	0.224	0.231	−0.117	0.0500	−0.157
	(0.321)	(0.323)	(0.318)	(0.344)	(0.320)
Long Term Vision (medium)	0.687*	0.0468	0.253	0.140	−0.0185
	(0.370)	(0.354)	(0.347)	(0.372)	(0.349)
Long Term Vision (high)	0.584*	0.319	0.520	0.772**	0.520
	(0.333)	(0.331)	(0.327)	(0.342)	(0.327)
Constant	−0.105	−0.319	−0.253	−0.706**	−0.253
	(0.256)	(0.261)	(0.254)	(0.275)	(0.254)
Observations	129	133	136	134	135

Note: Models estimate the probability of Attitude to Change is Positive. Standard errors are shown in parentheses.