S-LCA Applied in a Research Project and Social Conditionality of the New Common Agriculture Policy 2023–2027

We contributed to the research project titled ‘Innovations in Organic Farming to Improve the Sustainability of Apulian Farms for Cereals and Industrial Crops’. We aimed to define a new agroecological model based on the crop rotation of some of the main Apulian herbaceous crops (industrial tomatoes, durum wheat, and legumes). We also aimed to improve the competitiveness of organic crops through experimentation with pilot farms to measure sustainability. In 2021, the reform of the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) 2023–2027 introduced a new mechanism of ‘social conditionality’, (SC), relating to the conditions of workers, to which obtaining income support is linked. The application of social conditionality (SC) on a voluntary basis is expected to occur from 2023 to 2025 and then becomes mandatory. The social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) methodology was used in the project to assess social sustainability. The chapter aims to define the S-LCA methodology to be implemented in the project, which includes the requirements of the SC of the new CAP 2023–2027, for the health and safety subcategory and for the new employment relationship subcategory.