Do Semi-subsistence Farm Households Have a Future in the European Union?

In the enlargement process of the European Union (EU), micro farm households so called semi-subsistence farm households (SFHs) came into the focus of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The political question was and still is, how these households could be stimulated to become market oriented private farms or to exit the agricultural sector? This would induce positive structural change. It is difficult to answer this question. Reliable statistical information on SFHs is scarce. Moreover, SFHs may follow diverse objectives in a simultaneous manner to sustain their livelihoods. The portfolio of objectives largely depends on their specific characteristics. Having said this, it is clear that it is difficult to address the households with the right policy measures to promote structural change and maintain sustainable rural livelihoods. Therefore, two research questions were addressed: (i) What characterises SFHs in Central and South-eastern Europe? and (ii) which development strategies could benefit them most?

FRITZSCH Jana;  WEGENER Stefan;  BUCHENRIEDER Gertrud;  CURTISS Jarmila;  GOMEZ Y PALOMA Sergio; 

2010-06-28

Leibniz-Institut für Agrarentwicklung in Mittel- und Osteuropa (IAMO)

JRC55199

1617-6456,   

http://www.iamo.de/dok/iamo2010_en.pdf,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC55199,