THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN ORGANIC FARMERS’ MARKET AS A TRAINING CASE STUDY FOR STUDENTS OF THE FACULTY OF AGRICULTURE IN THE UNIVERSITY OF PALERMO

The role of organic agriculture in the island of Sicily is well recognised by farmers, though the consumption of organic products still fails to largely develop in the local markets, due to several reasons, among which the small scale agricultural system and its structural poor organization plays a major role. The University of Palermo holds two major undergraduate and graduate courses on “Organic Agriculture” with a very good participation of Students. A student’s association was established with the aim of: a) encourage the consumption of organic products coming from local small scale farmers, and b) endorse the capacity of creating new job skillnes and opportunities for graduate students of the Faculty, and encourage the relationship by producers and consumers through the creation of a farmer market and a group of buyers specifically devoted to organic agriculture. The association was supervised by the Faculty and its development in terms of market role and education opportunities is discussed in this report