The Socio-Economics Factors in Family Farms with Different Economic Sustainability Levels from Central and Eastern Europe

Silvia Ștefania Maican,Adam Majchrzak,Andreea Cipriana Muntean,Katarzyna Smędzik-Ambroży,Marta Guth

doi:10.3390/su13158262

Abstract

Economic sustainability plays an important role in shaping conditions for economic growth and social development. The importance of answering the question about the level of sustainability of family farms results from the fact that the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, apart from exceptions (e.g., the Czech Republic and Slovakia), are characterized by a fragmented agrarian structure. Hence, the main goal of this article was to answer two questions: (1) whether the countries of Central and Eastern Europe differ in the level of economic sustainability of small family farms; and (2) whether the same socioeconomic factors impact similarly on the level of economic sustainability of small family farms from countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The study was based on surveys conducted in small family farms: in 2018 from Poland (672 farms) and in 2019 in four other countries (Lithuania; 999 farms, Romania; 834 farms, Serbia; 523 farms, Moldova; 530 farms). The publication includes a critical analysis of the literature, structure analysis and correlation analysis. The results show the occurrence of large differences between the economic sustainability of small family farms from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The research indicates that the larger the area of a small-scale family farm, the greater its economic sustainability. The productivity of these farms increases with their economic sustainability. The results also prove a negative relationship between the age of the farmer and the economic sustainability of their farm in all analysed countries. These trends were found in all analysed countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The results of the analyses support the conclusion that agricultural policy instruments aimed at increasing the economic sustainability of small family farms should lead to: land consolidation, a decrease in the age of farm owners through generational changes, and a decrease in employment in agriculture, which would lead to a reduction in labour input in the agricultural sector.

Highlights

The ultimate aim of its instruments should be: changes in the area structure of farms through, for example, land consolidation leading to an increase in farm size, a decrease in the age of farm owners through generational changes, and a decrease in employment in agriculture, which would lead to a reduction in labour input in the agricultural sector
A diverse level of economic sustainability of small family farms from countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which was indicated in the research, allows us to note that the intensity of the impact of these instruments should be higher in countries with lower economic sustainability of farms
This would allow the triggering of convergence processes in the degree of economic sustainability of small family farms from countries of Central and Eastern Europe

Summary

Introduction

The primary and most frequently used measures of the economic effect are the quantitative indicators of the increase in the produced output. They take the form of gross domestic product (alternatively gross national product or national income) [1]. Economists usually use the amount of income per person within a household, the amount of the holding’s expenses, and, less often, wages level. Among other measures of economic order, the following are most often used: employment and professional activity indicators, workforce productivity, fixed asset capital intensity and energy intensity indicators, investment level, outlays on research, and development activity [1,2]. The economic pillar of sustainable development can be seen

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