The impacts of the global financial and economic crisis on the agro-food sector of Central and Eastern European and Central Asian countries

Abstract

This paper assesses the impacts of the global fi nancial and economic crisis on the agro-food sector of Central and Eastern European, Caucasus and Central Asian countries on the basis of research conducted in Hungary, Ukraine, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. The objective of the study was to propose policy options to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and other public authorities which can be applied to lessen the undesirable effects of the current or future crises in the sector. Results of interviews of stakeholders were analysed in the context of primary economic data and sixteen policy recommendations were formulated.

Structural changes in agriculture since EU accession in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary

“…As one of the most vulnerable among the Central and Eastern European economies, it was already hit hard by the global financial and economic crisis in 2008, experiencing a decline in exports as well as in domestic consumption, and fixed asset accumulation, dampened by government austerity measures in subsequent years which resulted in the contraction of the economy. Although Hungarian agriculture and the processing industries had been in a long recession before EU accession, due to the general macroeconomic, legal and social environment, the crisis impacted the agro-food sector to a lesser extent than other sectors of the national economy (Potori et al, 2011).…”