Harmonized development of the farm economy and of the countryside

Abstract

The sphere of issues surrounding rural development in Hungary has gained prominence in the past few years. On the basis of the principles of the OECD 85% of the area of the country is judged to be of a rural character; 46% of the population lives here. It can be regarded as a particular attribute of Hungary that the role played in rural development by the agricultural sector is a more significant one than is the case in the majority of EU member countries. This situation can be explained by the relatively high GDP and export share of the sector, and by the fact that the proportion of the working population employed in agriculture is stabilizing at a level of approximately 8%. The exploitation of the regional development potential of the farm economy has, in the past decade, been hindered by the protracted crisis in agriculture and the decline of the economic and social situation in the rural regions. In the past two years regional policy and other laws drawn up to conform to the standards of the European Union have upgraded the significance of the countryside. In the interest of ensuring that the countryside should be capable of fulfilling its economic, social, ecological and cultural functions a number of tasks remain to be accomplished. The most important of these are the following: dynamisation of the farm economy and the attainment of an increase in competitiveness, the strengthening and diversification of the economic base of the countryside, phased development of public utilities in the countryside, an improvement in employment and earnings relations and also in living conditions and the intellectual level prevailing, and finally increased protection of nature and of the environment. It is also necessary to ensure that financial guarantees for rural development are created. A task to be accomplished which should not be diminished in importance is the formulation of regional concepts for rural development, the drawing up of integrated agricultural and rural development programmes constructed on the basis of these concepts, and the establishment of a regional information systems network.