The Peasant Farmer Schools of Ávila as a Model for Rural Development: The Influence on the Agro-Food Quality Policy of the Ávila Peasant Farmers’ Union in the El Barco de Ávila-Piedrahita District (1977-1990)

Interest groups are a key analysis category in political science. However, agricultural interest groups have merited considerably less attention from Spanish academics in this field.

The aspect least adequately addressed in interest group studies is the influence they exert on public policy processes. The agricultural dimension of the Escuelas Campesinas (Peasant Farmer Schools) movement in the Barco de Ávila-Piedrahita area of Spain has not been examined from this perspective.

The present article seeks to remedy this gap in knowledge by analysing the participation and influence of the Unión de Campesinos de Ávila (Ávila Peasant Farmers Union) on agro-food quality policy during the period 1977-1990.