Abstract
According to Eurostat data from 2015, 25 % of the rural population of Europe was at risk of poverty or social exclusion. Small farmers and women are among the two most affected social groups. Despite these socioeconomic disadvantages, women are central to the sustainability of rural communities as they contribute to rural livelihoods, local and community socioeconomic development, and the overall wellbeing of rural areas. In this context, social farming as a form of social innovation in rural areas can be a way to address social exclusion disadvantages and generate new opportunities for women to obtain their own space of action. The aim of my intervention is to presents a social innovation initiative related to social farming led by women farmers living in remote rural areas of Italy that empower women as leaders and entrepreneurs but also generated high tangible socio-economic impacts at the community level.