The potential of social farming has always been studied from a perspective in which the combination of agricultural production with the provision of welfare services was the predominant feature. Nonetheless, social farming is a tool that can perform other different functions. The article describes the role that social farming plays within a wider strategy for local development in the rural areas of southern Italy strongly affected by the presence of organized crime and consequent widespread underdevelopment. The survey was carried out through semi-structured interviews with the presidents and executives of a sample of twenty social cooperatives and social enterprises, which are involved in farming activities with the aim of promoting local development and the regeneration of the territory. The research findings highlight how social farming can play an important role in deprived rural areas not only by creating income and jobs, but also by counteracting the cultures of illegality that hinder development. This is particularly the case when companies are driven by ideal, values and technical entrepreneurial skills, are embedded in non-local networks and redistribute part of the value produced to the local community.

一直从以农业生产与提供福利服务相结合为主要特征的角度研究社会农业的潜力。但是，社会农业是可以执行其他不同功能的工具。这篇文章描述了社会农业在意大利南部农村地区更广泛的地方发展战略中所扮演的角色，该组织受到有组织犯罪和随之而来的广泛不发达现象的严重影响。该调查是通过对二十个社会合作社和社会企业的样本的总裁和高管进行的半结构化访谈进行的，这些样本涉及农业活动，目的是促进当地发展和领土的复兴。研究结果突出表明，社会农业不仅可以通过创造收入和创造就业机会，而且还可以通过消除阻碍发展的非法文化来在贫困农村地区发挥重要作用。当公司在理想，价值和技术企业家技能的驱动下，嵌入非本地网络中，并将所产生的部分价值重新分配给当地社区时，情况尤其如此。