Romanian Rural Areas Research Articles

The structure of the rural economy in Romania. Case study on macro-region 2

Romanian rural area includes most of the territory of Romania, according to statistics, accounting for 87.1% of the total. Romanian rural economy is still largely agrarian, because in Romania the agricultural economy itself has a weight of 60.5% in its structure, compared to only 14.1% in the EU Deep structural causes distorted Romanian rural economy and rural population has a similar structure by sector (primary sector 64.2%, of which 56.6% agriculture, 18.5% secondary sector, tertiary sector 17.3%). Romanian-scale rural non-farm economy, has a low weight and rural tourism in all its variants, except for some mountain areas (Bran - Moeciu, Apuseni, Maramures, Bucovina) and the Danube Delta is almost nonexistent (11,000 beds in about 1,600 rural locations). The main objectives of the research were: overall characterization of the Romanian rural economy, showing the evolution of the structure of the rural economy in Macro-region 2 of Romania and identify differences between the structures of the rural economy nationally and regionally. In this context, we took into account agricultural activities (in the vegetal and animal sector) and non-agricultural activities suitable for each area (region). This article was prepared by using various sources of information, both quantitative and qualitative, such as: official statistics on national and territorial profile; analysis, reports and local studies; the information included in the rural development plans and national strategies; regional and local qualitative information obtained through direct communication with local stakeholders. Romanian agrarian structures are strongly polarized, about 40% of the agricultural area (UAA) of Romania is 2.5 to 2,800,000 small and very small farms (less than 5 ha), 40% of the UAA of the country, that area from 3.8 to 4.0 million ha is owned by 800 large farms (with area of ​​over 1,000 ha each) and 20% of Romania's UAA holdings surface is comparable to the European Union (5 - 50 ha). The structure of the rural economy in the Macro-region 2 of Romania, like the national level, reveals the dominance of agriculture as the main activity, but also a significant degree of development of agriculture related activities. The importance and need for diversified rural economy and rural areas based on multifunctionality based start being more obvious in Romania of 2013, maintaining the social and ecological agriculture, especially for reasons of self-healing micro-regional level, but developing income-generating agricultural activities, efficient and competitive. Keeping the family farm is the subject of European rural policy term. This also applies to less direct interventions aimed at grouping small farms economically viable units, but rather to stimulate the diversification of activities in these areas. In a broader context, it tends to recognize equally diversification requirements, the economic base in rural areas, and to drive public service by providing the rural population.

An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Significance of Digital Economy for Competitiveness in Romanian Rural Area Through E-agriculture

The digital economy is the key factor in the recovery of the EU economy and especially the Romanian economy. Based on its strengths in technology and knowledge, Europe should exploit the full potential of the digital economy. The digital economy offers great opportunities for SMEs in the manufacturing and service sectors. Therefore, an ambitious Digital Agenda, providing concrete steps to complete the online single market will be a key to sustainable economic recovery and social development of Europe.The understanding of what makes them a success or failure, and how much impact they may have in contributing to the wider rural economy is still relatively poorly developed. What is clear, from a wider European perspective, is that these new forms of e-agriculture with ecological entrepreneurialism are growing at a relatively fast rate.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL AREAS: A CHALLENGE FOR ROMANIA

Integration in the European Union has faced Romania with new challenges and objectives out of which sustainable development in rural areas is a priority. A diverse and efficient rural economy is needed, capable of generating resources that will increase the quality of life and observe environmental protection. The analysis presented in the paper brings into evidence economic, social and environmental characteristics from the Romanian rural areas, compared to EU-27 and a series of developed countries (Germany and France) or which joined EU later (Poland and Hungary). The research results highlight major disparities between Romania and the countries surveyed concerning the development on the principles of sustainability in the rural areas.

Quantitative Assessment Method of Illegal Dumping in Small Rivers Case Study: NeamÈ› County, Romania

Poor waste management facilities from Romanian rural areas lead to uncontrolled waste disposal on improper sites. These bad practices are frequently  in the the proximity of built-up areas , therefore, the small rivers inside these areas are susceptible to waste dumping. The paper aims to develop a quantitative assessment method of waste disposed into such small rivers from extra-Carpathian region of NeamÈ› county. The lack of organized waste collection services from 2003 lead to high values of waste disposed in such rivers frequently over 15 t/yr for each one. Despite some improvements compared to 2003 the small rivers inside built-up areas of villages are still highly exposed to waste dumping. The values vary depending on demographic and geographic features of each locality and on the other side, due to the presence of an organized waste collection system.The results and comparative analysis between 2003 and 2010 show some positive changes but the illegal dumping issue is far from being eliminated.Â

Supervision of Social Work Practice in North-Eastern Romanian Rural Areas

The paper is based on an implicit assumption that supervision is carried out in rural areas without taking into consideration the best practices available in scientific literature. Given this situation, we intend to keep an implicit epistemic distance to that assumption. Research was conducted through a constructive Grounded Theory methodology using structured and directive interviews as the main technique. Responses are generally in agreement with the theory, showing a good knowledge of the functions of supervision. We believe that low professional prestige of social workers in rural community adversely interfere with the quality of their work.

A Study Regarding the Elaboration of an Integrated Regional Cluster, as a Support for Agro-Industrial Business in the Romanian Rural Areas

The clusters with agro-industrial profile were developed within this scientific paper, based on a new conception of capitalization of agricultural production at a regional level. In this approach the agricultural farms are more than basic of agro-industrial chain, they are essential links without which the cannot serve as economic and social organization. The consumer has become basic link of chain, and in order to meet its requirements and options, agro-industrial must come in a more effective way. The cluster proposed by this study must produce “what is required” and “how much is required” on market. This agroindustrial chain highlights cluster size (type, dimension and production capacity of goods), its chain and value added by this cluster. The overall objective of network enterprises which constitute this agro-industrial cluster is to help its members to achieve increased production capacity and to be more profitable. A cluster model for enhancing grain production, integrated at regional level is proposed within this study.

Technical – Material Basis of Agro Tourism Support of Touristic Potential in Romania

This paper analyses the indicators characterizing the accommodation capacity to obtain an overview on the technical- material basis of agro-tourism, alongside statistical indicators presenting the dimension of the touristic circulation in the Romanian rural area. In agro-touristic boarding houses, places offered to tourists increased in year 2009, as compared to 1999, 20.04 times, and the accommodation capacity increased 9.82 times.
 In respect to the touristic capacity, the specific tendency of increase of the accommodation indexes dislocated, the agro-touristic boarding houses representing accommodation units that net usage index registers increases.

The Impact of European Funding on the Rural Labour Market

The development of the Romanian rural area following the 1989 Revolution and until the present has undergone important variations in terms of economic and financial instruments. The failure of the support policy in the fields of agriculture and rural development during the first stages of transition was determined by the slow pace of the economic reform and shaping of the market-viable agricultural structures. The research undertaken allowed for the depiction of tendencies and theoretically and practically-fundamented conclusions for the efficient access and employment of European funding for rural development. The method for data collection and processing selected for both studies was the inquiry, while the research instrument employed was the survey. Other methods utilized in the present paper include the determination of causal relationships by means of the Hisquare criterion. The preamble of the study involved the analysis of the general regulatory framework of European funding for rural development in Romania. Research objectives aimed at the main cofinancing sources of private beneficiaries in Cluj county and beneficiaries’ assessment of project filing methods.

Restraints and Opportunities of the Romanian Rural Areas

Although Romania disposes of an extremely valuable agricultural land, it has proved to be insufficient and irrationally exploited in the last two decades, as a direct consequence of the programme for returning the agricultural areas to the former individual landowners. The lack of technological agricultural means for cultivating the land, its excessive allotment, as well as the rather inappropriate involvement of the political factor in the decision making process and the invasion of imported agricultural products have generated a continuous process of degradation of the rural life as a whole and certain repercussions on the food safety. Currently, more than 50% of the Romanian agricultural area is not being cultivated, while the state imports more than 70% of alimentary products every year.

Impact of CAP’s pillars on Romanian rural employment

This paper aims to clarify the direction of change in rural employment on short- and medium term in Romania, while CAP regulations are being introduced and the global economic crisis emerges. First we put into evidence the decrease of the role of agriculture as buffer for unemployment and the poor contribution of non-agricultural activities to provide employment for rural residents.Then we analyse the main characteristics of the rural labour force. Finally we synthesize the opinions expressed by 33 consultants (working at the Offices for Agricultural Consultancy from different counties in Transylvania) about the estimated short term evolution of rural employment and the impact of CAP on Romanian rural areas.

Revitalization Measures of Vegetal Agricultural Production in Galati Agro-economical Area by Attracting European Funds

The diagnosis of Romanian rural area indicates the need for sustainable rural development, which means the promotion and implementation of cohesion policy, which can develop in a balanced and efficient way the urban and rural areas in Romania. In the Gala?i agro economical area, in the last decade, due to the negative influence of many external factors, the vegetal production has decreased dramatically and in some years, has been declared a state of natural disaster. For example, in 2007 were affected by extreme drought and high temperatures, the fall crops, spring crops, plantations of vines and fruit trees. Thus, the autumn wheat, 15.3% of cultivated surfaces was full damaged and 57.4% partially. In barley and spring barley, an area of 341 hectares (3%) was full damaged, and 3037 hectares (26.6%) partially, while at the corn for grain, 36.7% of the cultivated surfaces were full damaged and 55.7%, partially, etc. In arid areas, where deficit of water in soil is permanent, it is necessary the crop irrigation and the use of specific technologies. In addition, the soil salt phenomenon affects over 35.4 thousand hectares of agricultural area of Gala?i County, of which 40.4% are in the Gala?i agro economical area. To revitalize the agricultural vegetal production, the authors highlight the main measures to be undertaken which will require a very high volume of investment. To carry out the planned investment, the authors insist on development of viable projects, with the finishing point 2012, based on the internal sources, attracting EU funds, in accordance with the National Plan for Rural Development (PNDR).

"Sustainable Development Of The Romanian Rural Areas "

The problem of the sustainable development of the rural areas constitutes a highpriority for Romania in the quality of European Union’s member state. This supposesadopting of a coherent strategy that can realize a balance between the preservation demandof the economic, ecologic and socio-cultural area on one hand, and the tendency of lifecountry modernization, on the other side. In the paper are evidenced some aspects, projectsand action directions concerning the sustainable development of the Romanian rural space.

Aspects on healthcare provision in Romanian rural areas, geographical accesibility

Aspects on healthcare provision in Romanian rural areas, geographical accesibility

THE ROLE OF WOMEN TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE RURAL AREA IN ROMANIA

The necessity to track the contribution of the female population to the sustainable development in general is considered at several levels, starting from the Millennium Declaration (2000) and the specific tasks established at the level of each country. One of the development tasks is the increase of the degree of female population employment. The interest manifested by EU is mentioned as well in the European Conference dedicated to the issues of family and population (Viena, 2006). The definition of rural area is followed by a short characterization of the evolution and structure of the population in Romania, including after the participation to labor. The reorganization of the agricultural sector supposes also adjusting the labor. Thus, to avoid the migration of the rural population into the urban area, it is necessary to offer employment in the non-agriculture sector of the rural economy. For an optimal use of human capital in the Romanian rural area it is necessary to develop and apply in practice the leader abilities among females. The participation of female to the foundation of new enterprises, in comparison with the double percentage of males, extra programs are required to encourage women to initiate and develop their own business; the programs should consider the characteristics of the rural area and the opportunities related to co-financing the policy of rural development by EU.

THE CONTROL OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE RURAL WATER WELLS IN THE PLAIN AREA

In the Romanian rural area, esspecialy in the plain areas, water well infrastructure is spread in the entire landscape. However, very little is known about the condition or distribution of the water well infrastructure on which much of the rural population depends on. Groundwater is the preferred water supply source in most rural areas, because it is readily available and accessible over large parts of the Romanian Plain and West Plain which have the tendency, regarding the climatic changes, to turn into semi-arid area. A current review is a necessary way in ongoing efforts to know climate adaptation challenges and to develop instruments that will allow water wells to endure drought conditions without disruption at these critical times. A medium strategy at a local level and a long term strategy at a national level, as well as creating a database concerning the water wells and permanently upgrading the datas regarding these wells will constitute the premises for some viable alternatives for water supplies.

Stated environmental preferences in a Romanian rural community

This article uses random utility theory to analyse the economic and environmental trade‐offs at farm level in a Romanian rural area confronting water pollution on the basis of survey data. To underline the impact of socio‐economic variables in the decision‐making process at farm level as regards environmental choices, a binary logit model is estimated that includes socio‐economic variables in addition to the attributes in the choice set. The study shows that heterogeneity in tastes is partially captured by the inclusion of socio‐economic variables such as age, education, access to agri‐environmental information, number of children, land ownership and investment behaviour.

A STUDY ON LIFE QUALITY IN THE RURAL AREA

Though in the developed economies there is a trend to remove differences between rural and urban from the points of view of accommodation, infrastructure development, and ensuring services necessary for the population, which has resulted in a loss of significance of the traditional perception of the rural area as underdeveloped area, in Romania there is still a major discrepancy between rural and urban which is not beneficial for the Romanian rural area.
 Starting from these premises, we think that an analysis of the life quality in the Romanian rural area is opportune, taking into account that in the 12,946 villages of present Romania live over 45% (about 9.7 million inhabitants) of Romania’s population in conditions unbelievable for the 21st century and for the 3rd millennium when science and technology are very advanced worldwide in all the fields of activity; this is also the time in which globalisation as a phenomenon resulted in economic integration both regionally and worldwide as a result
 of the large-scale promotion of information technologies (e.g. the Internet), of the removal of artificial barriers from the circulation of goods, services, capital, knowledge, and people.