Sustainability 2021, 13, 3570. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063570 www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability Article Andalusian Organic Farming Plans (2002–2016): Themes, Approaches and Values José‐Francisco Jiménez‐Díaz 1, * and Francisco Collado‐Campaña 2 1 Department of Public Law, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, 41013 Sevilla, Spain 2 Department of Political Science, Public International Law and Procedural Law, Universidad de Málaga, 29016 Málaga, Spain; fcolcam@uma.es * Correspondence: josefco@upo.es Abstract: Organic farming in the Spanish region of Andalusia has acquired great socio‐economic importance over the past decades. The purpose of this article is to study the themes, approaches, and socio‐political values pertaining to ecological agriculture addressed in the Andalusian plans for organic farming (2002–2016). The contents of these plans have not been systematically studied be‐ fore. From a descriptive and qualitative perspective, the authors present and classify the main themes addressed in those plans and show the socio‐political approaches and values that underpin the plans. A thematic and semantic content analysis methodology is applied to the plans and sec‐ tions addressing various objectives, measures, and actions. A theoretical‐qualitative sampling is de‐ veloped, and 109 keywords are selected for content analysis. This analysis allows us to detect nu‐ merous themes pertaining to ecological agriculture and to classify them into six semantic fields linked to various approaches and values promoted by the Andalusian autonomous administration. Therefore, this research focuses on changing perspectives of organic farming developed by the ad‐ ministration and the agents involved in the plans. The authors conclude that the diverse actors have prioritized a productivist–technocratic approach to ecological agriculture, to the detriment of an approach centered on sustainable and agroecological local communities. Keywords: Andalusia; Andalusian plans for organic farming; content analysis; ecological agricul‐ ture; organic farming approaches; socio‐political values 1. Introduction Andalusia is the most populated Spanish autonomous community, with the greatest diversity of natural and agrarian landscapes, and with the largest conventional and eco‐ logical agricultural production. Specifically, the certified organic agricultural area of An‐ dalusia exceeded one million hectares in 2018, concentrating 46.8% of the land area dedi‐ cated to organic farming in Spain. Andalusia also stands out both in the production and in the transformation industry of organic products, since it brings together the highest proportion of producer operators in Spain with more than a third of the national total [1]. In other words, Andalusia is a benchmark in ecological agriculture in Europe. In addition, agricultural activity is a strategic sector in the Andalusian economic structure in several aspects: It generates employment and wealth, contributes to cohesion and balance be‐ tween territories, and “helps to establish population in rural areas” [2]. For its part, for more than three decades, the autonomous community of Andalusia has been endowed with self‐government capacity and, therefore, has its own governmen‐ tal structure (Junta de Andalucía, autonomous government), as well as a legislative power represented in the Andalusian Parliament. Both autonomous powers (executive and leg‐ islative) have allowed the Junta de Andalucía, since its constitution in 1983, to develop its own public policies in a broad range of spheres. Furthermore, the Junta de Andalucía has exclusive competence in development and execution in certain matters. This is the case of Citation: Jiménez‐Díaz, J.‐F.; Collado‐Campaña, F. Andalusian Organic Farming Plans (2002–2016): Themes, Approaches and Values. Sustainability 2021, 13, 3570. https:// doi.org/10.3390/su13063570 Academic Editor: Antonio Boggia Received: 10 February 2021 Accepted: 18 March 2021 Published: 23 March 2021 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neu‐ tral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and insti‐ tutional affiliations. Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Li‐ censee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and con‐ ditions of the Creative Commons At‐ tribution (CC BY) license (http://crea‐ tivecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).