Is Small Beautiful? The Debate on the Future of Small Individual Farms in Poland

Abstract

The main concern of this article is to collect and discuss cases that are advanced for and against small agricultural farms at the international level in the EU and the national level in Poland and to make an assessment of these cases in the context of sustainable rural development. cases concerning small farms and put forward by different actors reflect their visions of agriculture and rural development. Taking a closer look at those cases is interesting in the context of sustainability considerations, as there is a widespread programmatic demand for sustainable rural development, but at the same time visions for rural development may differ widely, and the question what exactly is meant to be sustainable often remains unanswered. Before the various arguments raised for and against small farms are discussed, some evidence from two Polish rural regions is presented. The empirical research was conducted in april and May 2012 in Eastern and southern Poland in the context of my Phd-thesis. after presenting statements made by Polish smallholders, an assessment of the initially collected cases is made in the context of sustainable rural development. a comparison of cases made for and against small farms and findings from empirical research shows that small farms do in fact have the potential to contribute to sustainable rural development.

Small Farms in the Paradigm of Sustainable Development

“…and market participation (e.g. purchased inputs, foodstuff sales) [ENRD 2010;European Commission 2011;Szumelda 2013;. Small farms are usually distinguished by using thresholds on these farm size indicators , but each category has its advantages and disadvantages.…”

Eastern European Rurality in a Neo‐Liberal, European Union World

“…A related feature of EU‐membership and its CAP, is the increasing attractiveness of agricultural land to non‐farmers. Anna Szumelda, in a discussion of the future of small farms in Poland, noted an increased interest on the part of non‐agrarians in land ownership in Poland since the introduction of the CAP, a factor which she considered impeded the development of a land market (, p. 241). In Hungary, non‐agrarians have been interested in acquiring farming businesses and land on both the large and smaller scale.…”

Are Peasant Households Feasible in Terms of Policy? The Debate on the Future of Semi-Subsistence Households in Ukraine

“…The problem of the functioning of semi-subsistence farms (SSF) in the agrarian sector has become the subject of close attention in the EU, due to the prevalence of this type of farming in new member countries (Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, etc. ) (Alexandri, Luca & Kevorchian 2015;Alexandri et al 2015;Forgács 2012;Jędrzejczak-Gas 2018;Szumelda, 2013). The search for a future strategy for such farms (their commercialisation, preservation of the status quo, or disappearance) and the corresponding optimal set of regulatory measures have been the subject of research by scientists and relevant political agencies within the framework of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) (Barnes et.al.…”

“…The search for a future strategy for such farms (their commercialisation, preservation of the status quo, or disappearance) and the corresponding optimal set of regulatory measures have been the subject of research by scientists and relevant political agencies within the framework of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) (Barnes et.al. 2016;Csurgó, Kovách & Megyesi 2018;Davidova 2011Davidova , 2014Halamska 2016;Istenič & Hočevar 2013;Overmars, Helming, van Zeijts, Jansson & Terluin 2013;Piras, Vittuari, Möllers & Herzfeld 2018;Popescu 2014;Szumelda 2013;Viaggi, Gomez y Paloma, Mishra & Raggi 2013). Ukraine, as a country of the Eastern Partnership of the European Union, seeks to integrate institutionally and policy-wise with the European field (Gurova 2018;Tyushka 2017).…”