Gender differences in adopting rural development policies

This paper deals with the adoption of rural development by women farmers in Italy, under the hypothesis that access to Rural Development Policies (RDP) is the result of an entrepreneurial behaviour. The aim of the paper is to determine which entrepreneurial strategies determine access to rural policies by farmers and how these strategies are gender based. It puts forwards a comparative analysis between men and women owned farms in the region of Lazio, Italy, by comparing funds obtained and types of policy measures accessed. The results confirm the presence of differences in entrepreneurial behavior behind the decision of gain access to policies in order to support farms’ strategies of growth.