The territorial delegate of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Development of the Junta de Andalucía, Laura Soto, announced this Tuesday the definitive resolution of the aid for the incorporation of young farmers and ranchers, which in the province of Málaga represents a total investment of 5.3 million euros and is expected to facilitate the entry of 104 new professionals into the Málaga countryside.
These statements were made during a visit to the olive grove of young farmer Pilar Bracho Lineros, located in the Málaga municipality of Archidona, where she was accompanied by the mayor, Manuel Almohalla.
This producer, 39 years old, has obtained a grant of 54,500 euros that will allow her to manage more than 23.7 hectares of olive grove, both organic and conventional.
Soto emphasized that this aid, processed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Development within the Strategic Plan of the CAP (PEPAC) 2023-2027 and co-financed with European Feader funds, has a budget of 130 million euros for the whole of Andalucía and constitutes the largest call for aid of this type in the autonomous community.
"These are aids that are fundamental for the present and, especially, for the future of our countryside," the delegate pointed out, who specified that these incentives are aimed at young people between 18 and 40 years old, with amounts ranging from 30,000 to 80,000 euros per beneficiary. The definitive resolution was published at the end of June and 2,455 young people will benefit across the region.
The territorial responsible has stressed that the main purpose of this line is to ensure "the essential generational renewal of the countryside," but also to promote the launch of new business initiatives in the primary sector, contribute to retaining population in the towns, and update agricultural operations with a younger perspective, "as they are the ones who are always more willing to innovate through new technologies and digitalization."
Likewise, the delegate has emphasized the relevance of this aid to promote "the incorporation of women into the agricultural field." The budget is divided into three blocks, one of which is specifically reserved for women, endowed with 15 million euros. In the province of Málaga, this fund amounts to 1.9 million euros allocated to 36 young female farmers and ranchers.
"In the last seven years we have managed to encourage the incorporation of women into the Malaga countryside, tripling the number of women who access these aids," said the delegate of Agriculture, who recalled that in 2018 there were 12 beneficiaries, compared to the 36 in the current call. "Today, one in three files for these aids are for women, and that is great news," Soto added.
On the other hand, the young farmer from Archidona expressed her gratitude to the Junta de Andalucía for the support received to ensure generational change in the family farm and "with it be able to have a more stable and real start."
Bracho detailed that she cultivates both dryland and irrigated olive groves and that her intention is to use the aid to transform the dryland part into irrigated land. At the same time, she pointed out that her purpose is "to be able to continue the work that my family has done during these previous years."
76% more young people than in 2018
Soto emphasized that the government of Juanma Moreno, in order to simplify the processing of these subsidies, has managed to "make these subsidies more attractive and, with that, incorporate a greater number of young people into our countryside each year so that they can start their personal project or continue the family farm."
The current call, from which about a hundred young people from Malaga benefit, represents a 76% increase compared to 2018, a year in which 59 young people from the province received aid amounting to a total of 3.57 million euros.
For the territorial delegate, these figures demonstrate a very favorable evolution in the generational renewal of the agricultural sector, "where the government works to make it easier for them and accompany them throughout the process."
In this regard, she cited as an example the reduction of administrative burdens applied to this call so that both the application and the management of the aids are agile and accessible. She also highlighted that a 25% advance of the total granted is contemplated, "which allows young people to have the necessary liquidity to undertake those initial investments that every agricultural project needs."
"We want those who decide to continue with the family farm or start a new project in the primary sector to find in the Andalusian government an ally, who helps them by eliminating bureaucratic procedures and accompanying them throughout this process," Soto pointed out.
Lastly, he pointed out that "thanks to all this, we have managed to ensure that the number of young Andalusians under 35 years old working in the field is higher than the Spanish average."