Explaining Local Action Groups Heterogeneity in a South Italy Region within Measure 311 Axis III Notice of LDP

Providing programmes to modernize and to sustain both agricultural and non-agricultural activities in rural areas is the main aim deriving from EU and national policies. The Local Action Groups (LAGs) implement local development strategies processing the Measures of Local Development Programme (LDP) and managing financial funds for Firms Modernization Plans (FMP) in order to increase the farm income sources. Starting from our previous work (Fiore et al., 2014), here we address the problem related to the impact of some variables on the farm income; we try to analyze in more detail the influence of these variability sources and their interactions. Our case study is Apulia Region - in Southern Italy – where 25 Local Action Groups cover entirely it. This paper provides suggestions on possible heterogeneity sources between the LAGs. After a policies and literature review on the role of the LAGs for enhancing economic and sustainable competitiveness of rural areas, we present our case study. Statistical analysis and a tree classification method are carried out.