S

urvival these days often means doing it all: production, processing and marketing. “The projects that work best are those where the producer controls the whole chain,” explains Nofre. This is particularly true of wine and olive oil, which can be processed and marketed more effectively. Cheese is also doing well. "We have five or seven very solid sheep and goat cheese projects. At the same time, a new generation of small-scale market gardeners has emerged over the last ten years." There have been 35 to 45 projects, often run by young newcomers from the city. Some deliver baskets, others sell at markets, and still others form cooperatives.

APAEMA also runs a processing unit in Binissalem. "It's a loss-making project, but it's essential: it enables producers to process their surplus produce into sauces, pestos, preserves and so on. Products that can be found at the Terra Nostra co-operative supermarket in Palma. Heirloom tomatoes, peppers, cold soups, cheeses: everything here speaks to a different idea of taste and our relationship with the land.

But both organic and conventional farming are under pressure. Climate change is disrupting crops, with early heatwaves, drought, irregular rainfall and pests from elsewhere. "We've lost 50% of our almond trees, devastated by drought and a bacterium from California,” explains Nofre. The carob trees are faring better. Organic wine is holding up well.

Another scourge: the price of land. “It has quadrupled since the 1980s,” laments Nofre. Tourism, which can be a protector and a predator, has made it impossible for most young farmers to access land. And in the last two years, a new player has added to the pressure: photovoltaic projects. "We're all for solar energy, but not on farmland! Let's start with the roofs of car parks and warehouses, not fields.” According to APAEMA, up to 80 solar farm projects are currently being planned, potentially representing 10,000 hectares - the equivalent of one tenth of the island's farmland. A direct threat to Mallorca's food sovereignty. APAEMA is campaigning for the *ecotasa*, a tax on sustainable tourism, to be used to fund a compensatory income for the farmers who maintain the island's living landscapes: low walls, century-old olive trees and free-ranging herds.

“You have to distinguish between organic farming and agro-ecology,” insists Nofre. Organic farming is a label. The second is a vision of the world. It involves local seeds, links with the land, short circuits, economic justice and cultivated biodiversity. "You can go organic by importing your compost and using hybrid seeds. That's not our way".

In the face of the climate crisis and agricultural standardisation, agro-ecology presents itself as a rooted resistance. A model on a human scale, combining living memory with renewed hope. It's also a way of taking care of the land - and the people who make it work.

Mercat Ecologic