Presented the book on family farming edited by Cajamar Caja Rural.

The text incorporates the interventions of experts who participated in the International Conference on Family Economics held last May at the University of Almería.

Entitled "Relevance and challenges of family farms in sustainable regional development", and in the context of the statement 2014 International Year of Family Farming by the UN, the academic event participants discussed the role that family farming as a supplier activity and food to the population, at the same time, core activity for sustainable economic development in much of the world.

Among the authors Tomas Garcia Azcarate include, director of the Directorate General for Agriculture of the European Commission; Jose Maria Garcia Alvarez Coque, Professor of Applied Economics at the Polytechnic University of Valencia; Raul Lopez Compés, President of the Spanish Association of Agricultural Economics and professor at the same university; and Andres Montero, to a Chief of Cooperative Promotion Department of Agriculture weeks ago, Food and environment.

The seven items that make up the work are dedicated to the general reflection on the importance of family agriculture in the world and its future, case studies on both shores of the Mediterranean (with particular reference to the example almeriense intensive agriculture development based on family farming), the impact of the new Common Agricultural Policy in this production model and the role of women in rural areas.

Roberto García Torrente, director of Agrifood and Cooperative Business Group BCC-Cajamar, He stressed that the two major challenges of this production model worldwide are competitiveness and professionalism, and their efficiency and sustainability depend on to keep alive its essence.

This is, the direct involvement of members of the family unit in business management of farms and the continuous improvement of the same from the technical point of view.

In addition, He added that this is a very identified agricultural model that "in Cajamar we have always felt, since the credit cooperativism was originally linked to the small peasant farming, and now it is SMEs and agri-food cooperatives ".

On the other hand, Emilio Galdeano, coordinator of the conference and publication, It highlighted the quality of the participants in both initiatives, and thanked the commitment of the University of Almeria and Cajamar Caja Rural, as sponsor of the conference and publication, with such initiatives, which in his opinion are an instrument in charge of showing society the relevance and effective economic weight of this type of agriculture in the rural and regional development both from a local and international perspective.

You can access the book by clicking here.