•Lack of a uniform definition

•Diverse interpretation of the concept of social farming - from the more general understanding of “practice of offering activity on family farms as a form of social support service1” to “supporting vulnerable groups in generating income through the implementation of economic initiatives in the field of agriculture” (LSIF, 2012).

•The common features - creating better conditions for people from disadvantaged groups to become independent economic units, as well as increasing their level of social capital.

•In some countries in Northern Europe the term “Green Care” is more common (Profarm, 2017).

•The development of social farming is different in different countries because of the specificities of the culture and structure of their health, social and educational services.

•It is believed that the emergence of individual initiatives in social farming can be traced back to the 1960s (Arsia, 2009).

Тhe main benefits of social farming are:

•Creating and maintaining jobs in rural areas and on this basis overcoming the processes of depopulation;

•Diversification and expansion of social services in rural areas;

•Higher effectiveness of social assistance, support and care;

•Benefits for clients: 1) Enhanced self-esteem by plant and animal care; 2) Informal relationships with colleagues and other clients;

•Additional source of income;

•Non-financial benefits;

•Environmental benefits.

(Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic, 2015)

•According to FASST (2018) Social Farming has a great unexplored and unexploited potential for social inclusion, employability and rural development.

•This potential depends on the types of activity supported, but generally it helps people from disadvantaged groups to create relationships outside the community, to find jobs and to generate income. Social farming is very often used as a form of therapy to help people overcome psychological and other problems (e.g. people with former addictions).

•Such potential is undermined by the lack of a coherent regulatory framework and definition at EU and national levels. Very few EU Member States have a regulatory framework in place (FASST, 2018:3).

There is a wide variety of activities in the field of social farming (Profarm, 2017; LSIF, 2012):

•Rehabilitation-Care

•Training and work integration

•Income generation initiatives

•Recreation and quality of life

•Education

•Other

The FASST (2018) identifies following stakeholders and actors in social farming activities:

•The European Economic and Social Committee, Section for Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment;

•Euro+Med  Agri-Social  Forum;

•European  Network  for  Rural  Development;

•AGRI - European Parliament Committee for Agriculture and Rural Development;

•ELO - European Landowners Organisation;

•Social Farming National Networks and Social Farming National Forums;

•International  Network  Platform  and  Competence  Center  for  Social  Farming  (project  MAiE);

•Multifunctional  Agriculture  in  Europe  –  Social  and  Organic  Impacts  on  Organic  Farms,  LLP).