Changes in the Romanian farm structures during transition evolution and main determinants

In Romania, farm restructuring is an ongoing process, largely conditioned by the legal framework that accompanied the land reform during the transition period. After 1990, Romanian agriculture experienced critical shifts in farming structures, reflected also in the production ones. While arable land represents 63% of the UAA, a restrictive production factor in developing a competitive agriculture resides in the fact that 61.7% of total arable land is utilized in excessively fragmented family farms 14303 thousands plots. This is seriously hampering family farms productivity, if we take into account that they are producing an estimated 74% of the total crop output of the sector level (2004). Under the present conditions, the agricultural producers act under two major objective restrictions: (i) integration of the Romanian agriculture into European structures, under the implementation of the 2007-2013 CAP reform; (ii) the relative low possibilities for backing up the financial support received through different EU-funded programs. The present study tries to assess the evolution of the Romanian farm structures during transition, together with the policies aiming to land ownership and consolidation, by analysing the main determinants of the changes, the expectations, the successes and failures, as well as to appraise the problems encumbering the further restructuring process, given the need for successfully competing in the EU Single Market.agricultural structures, land consolidation, Romania, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management,

Interesting Experiences in Wheat and Milk Channels in a Country Under the EU Accession

The wheat chain went through a significant restructuring in terms of ownership and operation. Among the agri-food processing sub-sectors, milling and bakery saw the largest development, in terms of employment, turnover and investment, both FDI and domestic capital. The milk sector saw even more fundamental changes during the transition period. It has been the only agricultural product that recorded continuous increase in both yield and total output during the past decade. The restructuring of the downstream sector was among the most difficult in the country's agri-food sector Considered as well as staple food, together with wheat, milk has been submitted to heavy intervention policies.Romania, wheat channel, milk channel, FDI, International Relations/Trade, Q13,

Development of Agricultural Market and Trade Policies in the CEE Candidate Countries.

This synthesis report focuses on the evolution of agricultural market and trade policies in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) candidate countries in the period 1997 to 2001. The developments were crucially influenced by (OECD, 2000a): ⢠the situation in world agricultural markets; ⢠the overall macroeconomic development in the countries considered; ⢠the prospective EU accession; ⢠bringing domestic agricultural policy in line with the Uruguay Agreement on Agriculture (URAA). High 1997 agricultural prices on world commodity markets were followed by a marked depression in 1998. With the exemption of milk products this trend continued in 1999. Likewise the economic and financial crisis in Russia had a considerable impact on agricultural policies. It hit the regions´ exports resulting in a decline in industrial as well as agricultural output1. Thus, compared to the previous years most of the CEE candidate countries experienced a slow down or even negative rates of growth in their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 1998 and 1999. In addition those countries felt increased budgetary pressures. Agricultural market and trade policies largely reacted to these developments. Border protection was increased in many countries in 1998. This was combined in some cases with export subsidies, and ad hoc producer aids to mitigate the adverse effects. The prospect of EU accession also had an influence on the agricultural policy design in the region with many countries implementing EU-type policy instruments. Thus, the importance of per hectare and per head payments increased in the region, quota like measures were implemented in some countries and as part of this development Estonia introduced tariffs for agro-food imports. Finally, many countries also continued to adjust their policies to comply with their commitments agreed to in the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Despite these general tendencies there are also differences in the development of agricultural policies between the various CEE candidates. Chapter 2 therefore provides an overview of the changes of agricultural market and trade policies in each of the 10 accession countries. It addresses the policy issues market access (e.g. tariffs, special safeguard measures), export subsidies (value and quantities) and domestic support (intervention policies, direct payments, input subsidies, production quotas). Chapter 3 provides a brief assessment of recent policy developments in the region in the light of EU accession and WTO commitments. The development of prices and values, e.g. export subsidies, agricultural support expenditure, were presented in the background papers provided by the country experts in current prices in national currencies. In this synthesis report they are in addition converted in Euro. This firstly allows for a better comparison among the CEE candidate countries as well as between those countries and the EU. Some of the accession countries still suffer from high inflation and thus a strong depreciation of their currency. Thus secondly, the conversion to Euros allows the comparisons to be made in real terms.Industrial Organization, International Development, Productivity Analysis,

Changes in the Romanian farm structures during transition - evolution and main determinants

In Romania, farm restructuring is an ongoing process, largely conditioned by the legal framework that accompanied the land reform during the transition period. After 1990, Romanian agriculture experienced critical shifts in farming structures, reflected also in the production ones. While arable land represents 63% of the UAA, a restrictive production factor in developing a competitive agriculture resides in the fact that 61.7% of total arable land is utilized in excessively fragmented family farms - 14303 thousands plots. This is seriously hampering family farms' productivity, if we take into account that they are producing an estimated 74% of the total crop output of the sector level (2004). Under the present conditions, the agricultural producers act under two major objective restrictions: (i) integration of the Romanian agriculture into European structures, under the implementation of the 2007-2013 CAP reform; (ii) the relative low possibilities for backing up the financial support received through different EU-funded programs. The present study tries to assess the evolution of the Romanian farm structures during transition, together with the policies aiming to land ownership and consolidation, by analysing the main determinants of the changes, the expectations, the successes and failures, as well as to appraise the problems encumbering the further restructuring process, given the need for successfully competing in the EU Single Market

Interesting Experiences in Wheat and Milk Channels in a Country Under the EU Accession

The wheat chain went through a significant restructuring in terms of ownership and operation. Among the agri-food processing sub-sectors, milling and bakery saw the largest development, in terms of employment, turnover and investment, both FDI and domestic capital. The milk sector saw even more fundamental changes during the transition period. It has been the only agricultural product that recorded continuous increase in both yield and total output during the past decade. The restructuring of the downstream sector was among the most difficult in the country's agri-food sector Considered as well as staple food, together with wheat, milk has been submitted to heavy intervention policies

Development of Agricultural Market and Trade Policies in the CEE Candidate Countries.

This synthesis report focuses on the evolution of agricultural market and trade policies in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) candidate countries in the period 1997 to 2001. The developments were crucially influenced by (OECD, 2000a): • the situation in world agricultural markets; • the overall macroeconomic development in the countries considered; • the prospective EU accession; • bringing domestic agricultural policy in line with the Uruguay Agreement on Agriculture (URAA). High 1997 agricultural prices on world commodity markets were followed by a marked depression in 1998. With the exemption of milk products this trend continued in 1999. Likewise the economic and financial crisis in Russia had a considerable impact on agricultural policies. It hit the regions´ exports resulting in a decline in industrial as well as agricultural output1. Thus, compared to the previous years most of the CEE candidate countries experienced a slow down or even negative rates of growth in their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 1998 and 1999. In addition those countries felt increased budgetary pressures. Agricultural market and trade policies largely reacted to these developments. Border protection was increased in many countries in 1998. This was combined in some cases with export subsidies, and ad hoc producer aids to mitigate the adverse effects. The prospect of EU accession also had an influence on the agricultural policy design in the region with many countries implementing EU-type policy instruments. Thus, the importance of per hectare and per head payments increased in the region, quota like measures were implemented in some countries and as part of this development Estonia introduced tariffs for agro-food imports. Finally, many countries also continued to adjust their policies to comply with their commitments agreed to in the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Despite these general tendencies there are also differences in the development of agricultural policies between the various CEE candidates. Chapter 2 therefore provides an overview of the changes of agricultural market and trade policies in each of the 10 accession countries. It addresses the policy issues market access (e.g. tariffs, special safeguard measures), export subsidies (value and quantities) and domestic support (intervention policies, direct payments, input subsidies, production quotas). Chapter 3 provides a brief assessment of recent policy developments in the region in the light of EU accession and WTO commitments. The development of prices and values, e.g. export subsidies, agricultural support expenditure, were presented in the background papers provided by the country experts in current prices in national currencies. In this synthesis report they are in addition converted in Euro. This firstly allows for a better comparison among the CEE candidate countries as well as between those countries and the EU. Some of the accession countries still suffer from high inflation and thus a strong depreciation of their currency. Thus secondly, the conversion to Euros allows the comparisons to be made in real terms

Agricultural economics and transition: What was expected, what we observed, the lessons learned Proceedings (Volume I / II)

Over fifteen years have elapsed since the transition from the centrally planned economic system started in the early 1990’s. During this time agricultural and rural areas of Central and Eastern Europe have undergone profound structural changes with wide variations in the degree of transformation and in the rate of success in creating a competitive market and private ownership based food and agricultural system. By becoming member of the European Union the "transition" in its traditional interpretation has been concluded in ten of the Central East European countries. The transition to market based agriculture, however, is far from completion in Southern and Eastern Europe and especially in the CIS countries. International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE) and European Association of Agricultural Economists (EAAE) in collaboration with the Corvinus University of Budapest and with a number of other institutions in Hungary organized an inter-conference seminar on the subject of agricultural transition in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The major objective of the seminar was to discuss and draw conclusions on the role of agricultural policy in the transition process in the light of actual progress and current situation in Central and East European countries and in formal Soviet States. In addition the contribution of agricultural economics – both from the West and from the East – as a discipline and a profession to the transition process in agriculture were discussed. A specific objective was to identify priorities and means to strengthen the agricultural economics profession in the transition countries and determine research and educational priorities for the future. The seminar was attended by 118 participants representing 26 countries from Europe, North America and Asia. The Seminar was the largest professional meeting organized by the two associations in 2007. Over 110 abstracts were submitted and evaluated by the International Program Committee. In the two day program of the meeting, 8 presentations were made during the 3 plenary sessions, 66 papers were presented in the 15 contributed paper sessions in 8 subject categories. In addition there were 15 posters discussed in the poster session and the findings of a World Bank study on distortions of agricultural incentives in the region was the subject of a pre-conference workshop. Plenary speakers included Ulrich Koester, Johan Swinnen, Jerzy Wilkin, Zvi Lerman, Eugenia Serova and József Popp-Gábor Udovecz. At the end of the seminar David Colman, President of IAAE gave a global assessment of the status of agricultural economics discipline and profession, while Csaba Csáki, former President of IAAE made summary comments on major issues discussed during the seminar. This volume includes the plenary and contributed papers presented at the seminar and submitted for publications by the authors as well as the abstracts of the poster papers discussed. The seminar was supported and sponsored by a number of organizations and persons. All of their contributions have to be greatly acknowledged. First the two international organizations IAAE and EAAE have to be mentioned, which provided overall organizational framework and logistical support. The IAAE provided in addition a generous grant to support the participation of young agricultural economists from Central and Eastern Europe on the seminar. On the Hungarian side the Corvinus University of Budapest, the Szent István University of Gödöllő, the Research Institute for Agricultural Economics, the Hungarian Agricultural Economics Association, the Hungarian Association of Agricultural Sciences and the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development were the major material and organizational supporters. The International Program committee was chaired by David Colman and Csaba Csáki and included Ulrich Koester, Joe Swinnen, Eugenia Serova and Jerzy Wilkin. The local Organizing committee was chaired by Csaba Forgács and István Szűcs and included Zoltán Lakner, András Nábrádi, József Popp, József Tóth, Gábor Udovecz, László Vajda, László Villányi, Krisztina Fodor, Attila Jámbor and Tamás Mizik. Finally IAMO, Halle facilitated the publication of this proceedings

Agricultural economics and transition: What was expected, what we observed, the lessons learned Proceedings (Volume I / II)

Over fifteen years have elapsed since the transition from the centrally planned economic system started in the early 1990âs. During this time agricultural and rural areas of Central and Eastern Europe have undergone profound structural changes with wide variations in the degree of transformation and in the rate of success in creating a competitive market and private ownership based food and agricultural system. By becoming member of the European Union the "transition" in its traditional interpretation has been concluded in ten of the Central East European countries. The transition to market based agriculture, however, is far from completion in Southern and Eastern Europe and especially in the CIS countries. International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE) and European Association of Agricultural Economists (EAAE) in collaboration with the Corvinus University of Budapest and with a number of other institutions in Hungary organized an inter-conference seminar on the subject of agricultural transition in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The major objective of the seminar was to discuss and draw conclusions on the role of agricultural policy in the transition process in the light of actual progress and current situation in Central and East European countries and in formal Soviet States. In addition the contribution of agricultural economics â both from the West and from the East â as a discipline and a profession to the transition process in agriculture were discussed. A specific objective was to identify priorities and means to strengthen the agricultural economics profession in the transition countries and determine research and educational priorities for the future. The seminar was attended by 118 participants representing 26 countries from Europe, North America and Asia. The Seminar was the largest professional meeting organized by the two associations in 2007. Over 110 abstracts were submitted and evaluated by the International Program Committee. In the two day program of the meeting, 8 presentations were made during the 3 plenary sessions, 66 papers were presented in the 15 contributed paper sessions in 8 subject categories. In addition there were 15 posters discussed in the poster session and the findings of a World Bank study on distortions of agricultural incentives in the region was the subject of a pre-conference workshop. Plenary speakers included Ulrich Koester, Johan Swinnen, Jerzy Wilkin, Zvi Lerman, Eugenia Serova and József Popp-Gábor Udovecz. At the end of the seminar David Colman, President of IAAE gave a global assessment of the status of agricultural economics discipline and profession, while Csaba Csáki, former President of IAAE made summary comments on major issues discussed during the seminar. This volume includes the plenary and contributed papers presented at the seminar and submitted for publications by the authors as well as the abstracts of the poster papers discussed. The seminar was supported and sponsored by a number of organizations and persons. All of their contributions have to be greatly acknowledged. First the two international organizations IAAE and EAAE have to be mentioned, which provided overall organizational framework and logistical support. The IAAE provided in addition a generous grant to support the participation of young agricultural economists from Central and Eastern Europe on the seminar. On the Hungarian side the Corvinus University of Budapest, the Szent István University of GödöllÅ, the Research Institute for Agricultural Economics, the Hungarian Agricultural Economics Association, the Hungarian Association of Agricultural Sciences and the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development were the major material and organizational supporters. The International Program committee was chaired by David Colman and Csaba Csáki and included Ulrich Koester, Joe Swinnen, Eugenia Serova and Jerzy Wilkin. The local Organizing committee was chaired by Csaba Forgács and István Szűcs and included Zoltán Lakner, András Nábrádi, József Popp, József Tóth, Gábor Udovecz, László Vajda, László Villányi, Krisztina Fodor, Attila Jámbor and Tamás Mizik. Finally IAMO, Halle facilitated the publication of this proceedings.Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Farm Management, Financial Economics, Industrial Organization, International Development, International Relations/Trade, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics,