Economics and rural development 2010, vol. 6, no. 2

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: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12259/104113

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  • research article
    Potori, Norbert
    ;
    Garay, Róbert
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    Popp, József
    Economics and rural development, 2010, vol. 6, no. 2, p. 7-16
    The research aimed to assess the impacts of the global financial and economic crisis on the agro-food sector of Hungary, and to propose policy measures in order to lessen its undesirable effects. Interviews were conducted with stakeholders in two major supply chains, wheat and pigmeat. Although agriculture and the processing industries in Hungary had been in a long recession due to the general macroeconomic, legal and social environment, the crisis impacted the agro-food sector to a lesser extent than some other sectors of the national economy in the 2008/09 crop year. However, most stakeholders were expecting the situation to worsen in 2009/10. Our recommendations for policy measures to mitigate the impacts of the crisis included, inter alia, the distinguishing between agro-economic priorities and social policy issues; the targeting of investment subsidies at the professional enterprises; the expanding of credit guarantee funds and the supporting of credit insurance; the encouraging of use of risk management tools available on the market; the encouraging of horizontal and vertical integration along the agro-food supply chains, as well as consolidation, rationalisation and specialisation within the processing industries; the supporting of innovation and marketing; the increasing of R+D spending; the developing of logistics; and the improving of the transparency of policy making and communication.
      10  14
  • research article
    Theodosiou, Giorgos
    ;
    Michailidis, Anastasios
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    Loizou, Efstratios
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    Chatzitheodoridis, Fotis
    ;
    Sergak, Panagiota
    Economics and rural development, 2010, vol. 6, no. 2, p. 17-23
    The current financial and institutional crisis in Greece has brought far-reaching consequences for the whole economy including rural development. Nevertheless, farmers and rural residents can profit from the opportunities and synergies offered by other activities that are complementary and alternative to agriculture and thus they can liberate themselves from the unique role of producers. Rural residents, farmers and entrepreneurs in less favored Greek areas play an essential role in the valorization of endogenous resources of the area where they are operating. This paper aims to examine the willingness of the residents of a typical Greek region to accept and support a local factor such as a union of agricultural cooperatives and to reveal the foremost reasons thereof. To that effect, a survey of 500 rural residents was performed using both summary statistics and multivariate analysis while a categorical regression analysis was applied to determine the relation between the respondents' socioeconomic characteristics and their willingness to adopt the endogenous potential. The survey findings indicate the success of the Union investment project and the confidence of the local community in a local cooperative organization. Thus, this local business initiative can significantly reduce the impact of the economic crisis on Greek rural residents by generating additional income from indigenous resources.
      8  21
  • research article
    Undeland, Asyl
    ;
    Shapakov, Kenesh
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    Kochonova, Aizhan
    ;
    Berrada Gouzi, Abderrahmane
    ;
    Tabaldieva, Jyldyz
    Economics and rural development, 2010, vol. 6, no. 2, p. 24-34
    In mid-2009 the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) commissioned some urgent research aimed at a snapshot assessment of the impacts of the global financial and economic crisis on the agro-food sector of Central and Eastern European and Central Asian countries. The objective was to propose policy options which can be applied by the FAO and other public authorities to lessen the undesirable effects of the current or future crises in the agro-food sector. This paper reports the results of the research conducted in Kyrgyzstan on three agricultural sub sectors: wheat, sunflower and dairy. About 70 in-depth interviews were conducted with major stakeholders such as farmers, traders, processors, banks and government officials in different regions of the country. The crisis had an impact on Kyrgyz agro-food sector value chains, though different stakeholders responded differently. Agricultural producers and processors were affected by the crisis, and farmers were affected more than other stakeholders. By contrast, the impact on the banking sector vis-à-vis agriculture was quite minor: a small increase the risk premium on credit. The Government has been making efforts to mitigate the consequences of the crisis, support local producers, and especially farmers growing wheat, but these have been largely ineffective.
      18  40