Actors, Institutions and Attitudes to Rural
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The Nature of Rural Development: Towards a Sustainable Integrated Rural Policy in Europe Zbigniew Karaczun Actors, Institutions and Attitudes to World-Wide Fund for Nature and the Statutory Countryside Rural Development: The Polish National Report Research Report to the Agencies of Great Britain Department of Environmental Protection, Warsaw Agricultural University December 2000 1 Contents Page 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 3 2. Institutions and programmes....................................................................................6 2.1 Institutions....................................................................................................................... 6 2.1.1 Central government institutions............................................................................... 6 2.1.1.1 The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development ............................................... 6 2.1.1.2 Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture (ARMA) .................... 7 2.1.1.3 Agricultural Market Agency (AMA) ......................................................................... 7 2.1.1.4 The Agency of State Treasury Ownership in Agriculture (ASTOA)....................... 8 2.1.1.5 Ministry of Environment........................................................................................... 8 2.1.1.6 National Fund of Environment Protection and Water Management ...................... 9 2.1.1.7 Other institutions...............................................................................................……9 2.1.2 Regional and local institutions................................................................................ 9 2.1.2.1 Regional branches of the Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture............................................................................................................... 9 2.1.2.2 Regional branches of Agency of State Treasury Ownership in Agriculture ........10 2.1.2.3 Departments of Environmental Protection and Agriculture in Voivodship Offices10 2.1.2.4 Agricultural Advisory Centres .............................................................................. 11 2.1.2.5. Regional Inspectorates of Environmental Protection (RIEP) ............................... 11 2.1.2.6 Voivodship, Powiat and Local Funds of Environment Protection and Water Management.......................................................................................................... 11 2.1.2.6. Local authorities .................................................................................................... 11 2.1.3 Other institutions ................................................................................................... 11 2.1.3.1 The World Bank..................................................................................................... 11 2.1.3.2 Foundations........................................................................................................... 12 2.1.3.3 Labour unions........................................................................................................ 12 2.1.3.4 Non-governmental organizations ......................................................................... 13 2.1.3.5 Banking sector ...................................................................................................... 14 2.2. Programmes .......................................................................................................... 15 2.2.1 National programmes ............................................................................................ 15 2.2.2 Programmes supported by foreign resources ...................................................... 16 2.2.2.1 PHARE.................................................................................................................. 16 2.2.2.2 SAPARD Programme........................................................................................... 17 2.2.2.3 Programmes of the World Bank........................................................................... 19 3. Evolution of agricultural policy.......................................................................................... 21 4. Chances and barriers for sustainable developoment of rural areas in Poland. ..............27 4.1 Factors limiting opportunities for sustainable rural development.................................... 27 4.2 The development of government policy........................................................................... 29 4.3 Opportunities for sustainable rural development ..............................................................31 5. Conclusions......................................................................................................................34 Annex I An institutional map for rural development in Poland................................................36 Annex II Institutions involved in rural development in Poland ................................................37 Zbigniew Karaczun Department of Environmental Protection Warsaw Agricultural University 02-787 Warsaw Nowousynowska 166 Poland Tel: (+48) 22 84 39041 ext. 11287 Fax: (+48) 22 84 71562 E-mail: [email protected] 2 1. Introduction Poland is a country with agricultural tradition. In 1945 the share of agriculture in the national Gross Domestic Production (GDP) accounted for over 60%. In spite of the fact that the share of agriculture in GDP creation is decreasing (in 1990 it was equal 14.9%, and in 1998 – 4.2%), agriculture and forestry are still the dominant land use (see table 1). After 1945 Polish farmers paid a high price for the maintenance of private ownership – in the form of backwardness and insufficient investment. Table 1 Changes in the form of soil utilisation in Poland Share (in %) of the country territory in specific years 1950 1980 1990 1995 1998 Agricultural soils 65,5 60,6 59,9 59,7 59,0 Forests and soils covered with 22,0 27,8 28,0 28,7 28,5 trees 12,5 11,6 12,1 11,6 12,5 Others [GUS 1999] A characteristic feature of the Polish agriculture is its predominantly small-scale structure of farms (Table 2). One cannot forget, however, that this structure has an immense, positive impact on biodiversity1. Table 2 The structure of farms in Poland Years 1990 1995 1997 1998 The number of farms in thousands 2138 2048 2008 1989 Farms with the surface of 1 – 1,99 ha 17,7 20,9 21,9 22,6 2 – 4,99 35,1 33,7 34,4 34,0 5 – 6,99 14,9 13,4 12,7 12,4 7 – 9,99 14,9 13,3 12,3 12,3 10 – 14,99 11,3 10,7 10,3 10,2 15 – and more 6,1 8,0 8,4 8,5 Average acreage of the farms in ha 7,1 7,6 7,8 7,7 Including arable 6,3 6,7 6,9 6,9 soils [GUS 1999] Another characteristic feature of Poland is a relatively low population density – 124 persons/km2, and rural areas are particularly scarcely populated – in the total number of more than 56 thousands of rural municipalities approximately 94% have less than 1000 inhabitants. This has a low impact on equipment regarding technical infrastructure in rural areas which constitutes one of the barriers for their development. 1 Small pieces of farm land with numerous lines of division marked with trees and shrubs form many ecotone zones – which constitute habitats with the largest number of species. In the process of creation of large fields of farmland a significant number of ecotones is eliminated. See e.g. paper McNeely J.A., 1995: How traditional agro- ecosystems can contribute to conserving biodiversity. [in] Conserving Biodiversity Outside Protected Areas. IUCN. Gland – Cambridge, pp20–36. Modern agriculture technology influences also the diversity of breeds. Due to using of qualified seed the local, indigenous varieties of agricultural crops are endangered. During the 1990s it has been observed that richness of local breeds of animals is endangered, especially sheep and horses, but also pigs and poultry. 3 Because of climate conditions as well as low quality soils, Polish agriculture is in a more difficult situation than most of the countries of the European Union (EU). Climate is highly changeable, and the vegetation period begins at the verge of March and April, and lasts 180-220 days. At the beginning of this period strong frost often occurs. Precipitation is very low, the country average amounts to approximately 600 mm/year, with regional diversification in the range between 500 and 1500 mm/year. Most of the farmers use medium- and low-quality soils; very good quality soils constitute less than 4% of agricultural land (Table 3). In addition, over 50% of soils are soils with inappropriate water conditions. Low amount of water resources in addition to low precipitation also constitutes a problem, limiting the possibilities of development of agricultural production. The above mentioned factors influence the size of harvest generated by the Polish farmers, which is usually lower than average yield achieved in the EU countries. Table 3 Breakdown of soils categories according the to various quality standards in Poland Share [in %] of soils in a given category Categories Agricultural Cultivated soils Meadows and soils total pastures I 0,4 0,5 0,1 II 2,9 3,3 1,5 III 22,3 24,8 13,4 IV 39,9 39,1 42,4 V 22,7 20,3 31,3 VI 11,8 12 11,3 Polish soils are not polluted2, agricultural soils with natural content of heavy metals and other pollutants prevail, whereas acidification and erosion of agricultural land constitute a problem (Table 4 and 5). Table 4 Breakdown of soils