The fight against agribusiness crime and the regeneration of agricultural land confiscated from organised crime groups in Italy

Abstract

The article examines organised crime in agriculture and in the agri-food chain and the Italian approach to combating the so-called “agromafie”, whose activities cause devastating environmental and social harms. Among the best practices for countering this phenomenon, the specific focus here is on the economic and social regeneration of agricultural land confiscated from organised crime syndicates. To date, over 13,000 agricultural land assets have been confiscated throughout Italy: an impressive number that generates considerable management challenges. Nevertheless, when these rural spaces are freed from the yoke of criminal organizations and taken in hand by civil society, they are literally “reborn” and trigger cascades of virtuous and sustainable benefits for the environment, the local economy, and local communities, as illustrated by the case of the Libera Terra agricultural cooperatives.

Keywords

• organised crime
• agribusiness
• confiscated assets
• civil society
• sustainability
• Italy