Agriculture and everyday realities on small farms – An entrepreneurial challenge to farmers between the desire for autonomy and a secure existence. Two examples from east and south-east Poland
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
Standard
In: Journal of Rural Studies, Vol. 67, 04.2019, p. 57-68.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
Harvard
APA
Vancouver
Bibtex
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
T1 - Agriculture and everyday realities on small farms – An entrepreneurial challenge to farmers between the desire for autonomy and a secure existence. Two examples from east and south-east Poland
AU - Szumelda, Anna Urszula
PY - 2019/4
Y1 - 2019/4
N2 - The small-scale agricultural structure, commonly found above all in the east and south of Poland, is seen as undesirable by Polish policy makers, who assign a high priority to the promotion of change from small to larger units. Against the background of multiple social-ecological crises, often tied to practices of intensive, industrial and large-scale agriculture, the question must be raised whether these efforts can achieve the goal of sustainability. To investigate this issue, an empirical study was carried out in two regions of a small-scale agrarian structure in the east and south-east of Poland with the aim to see what life situations and economic activities could be found in small farms and whether they could provide a counterweight to the multiple social and ecological crisis phenomena in agriculture. The present article focusses on three different economic models that were pursued by the interviewed farmers (economically successful full-time farming, part-time farming out of choice and farming out of economic necessity), on the main motivations underlying the farmers' activities (the desire for a secure existence and for autonomy) and on challenges that small scale farmers have to face with respect to the current institutional and economic-political environment for agriculture. The study's findings show that the economic activities pursued on the investigated farms can contribute to the sustainable development of rural areas only in a limited sense; what they demonstrate above all is the urgency of the change needed in the economic-political framing conditions for agriculture if nature-conserving agricultural practices, which are at the same time financially attractive for the farmers, are to make their contribution to the sustainable development of rural areas.
AB - The small-scale agricultural structure, commonly found above all in the east and south of Poland, is seen as undesirable by Polish policy makers, who assign a high priority to the promotion of change from small to larger units. Against the background of multiple social-ecological crises, often tied to practices of intensive, industrial and large-scale agriculture, the question must be raised whether these efforts can achieve the goal of sustainability. To investigate this issue, an empirical study was carried out in two regions of a small-scale agrarian structure in the east and south-east of Poland with the aim to see what life situations and economic activities could be found in small farms and whether they could provide a counterweight to the multiple social and ecological crisis phenomena in agriculture. The present article focusses on three different economic models that were pursued by the interviewed farmers (economically successful full-time farming, part-time farming out of choice and farming out of economic necessity), on the main motivations underlying the farmers' activities (the desire for a secure existence and for autonomy) and on challenges that small scale farmers have to face with respect to the current institutional and economic-political environment for agriculture. The study's findings show that the economic activities pursued on the investigated farms can contribute to the sustainable development of rural areas only in a limited sense; what they demonstrate above all is the urgency of the change needed in the economic-political framing conditions for agriculture if nature-conserving agricultural practices, which are at the same time financially attractive for the farmers, are to make their contribution to the sustainable development of rural areas.
KW - Sustainability Governance
KW - Environmental Governance
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85061822237&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2019.02.008
DO - 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2019.02.008
M3 - Journal articles
AN - SCOPUS:85061822237
VL - 67
SP - 57
EP - 68
JO - Journal of Rural Studies
JF - Journal of Rural Studies
SN - 0743-0167
ER -