Tsymbalista N. A.
PhD in economic science, State Institution “Institute of Regional
Research named after M. I. Dolishniy of National Academy of Sciences of
Ukraine”
CHAMBERS
OF AGRICULTURE AND THEIR ROLE IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Keywords: rural development, rural areas,
chamber of agriculture
According
to a standard definition, more than 91% of the EU territory is ‘rural’, and
this area is home to more than 56% of the EU's population. Rural areas are characterized by a distinctive way of life,
closer relationships between people, direct contact with nature, which is a
symbol of healthy living environment. On the other hand, the threats of the
economic crisis appear more significantly here, poverty is considerably higher,
education level lower and the population is aging. Agriculture, which is the
main land user in rural Europe, has come through significant modernization
during the last decades and this process was accompanied by intensification of
land use and degradation of landscape values.
Therefore rural development policy, which
consists of income, environmental and social policies, follows the target to
help rural areas maintain their economic, ecologic and social functions. In
order to keep in close touch with local issues public authorities, who are responsible for constructing plans and
strategies of rural and agricultural development, should communicate not only
with local authorities but also with representatives of local entrepreneurship
and communities. Chambers of agriculture in European countries often serve as a liaison between the government and individuals
and enterprises involved in agriculture and forestry activities. These
self-governing organizations have a long history in Europe, having been first
established in Poland and France in 1918-1920 [1, p. 47].
Chambers of agriculture are organized democratically
and any farmer can join and vote. In most European countries, all self-employed persons active in agriculture and/or forestry as well
as the members of their families working with them are by law members of the
Chambers of Agriculture. Local (regional, federal, county etc.) Chambers of
Agriculture are usually linked into a network by an umbrella organization, the
National Chamber of Agriculture. Support for the
activities of chambers comes primarily from levying contributions of their
members, as for the Slovak Agriculture and Food Chamber. In some other
countries agricultural chambers have more diversified sources of financing. For
example in France the chamber’s budget comes from investments and agricultural
loans, local chambers and members, the state and EU and other sources. In
Germany 100% of land tax is used to support agricultural chambers.
The roles of chambers also vary from country to
country, but always include advocacy for farmer needs. Services provided by
chambers of agriculture to their members may include vocational training,
consulting, certification programs, providing market information and organizing
workshops. One of the Chambers’ most important
tasks is also the implementation of measures relating to the Common
Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union. Agricultural chambers in
Slovenia provide information to farmers and give advices on how to gain funds
from these measures [2]. German Chambers of agriculture carry out monitoring
and controlling functions concerning CAP: they maintain a database using
cartographic materials, which farmers give to the chambers to claim the
allocation of crops they are going to grow during a year [3, p. 8].
Agricultural chambers in Germany also practice random audit to validate data
form the database by doing landscape aero-photography. About 3-5% of
agricultural holdings are checked annually. This is the way in which chambers
of agriculture help to implement measures of soil conservation in EU.
Chambers also play a decent part in supporting
opportunities expand and diversification of activities and incomes for
residents of rural areas in Europe. For example, Slovenia’s Chamber of
Agriculture assists farmers who wish to set up tourism related activities and
accommodations on their farms, and now Slovenia has some 800 farms, which are
open to visitors. Such efforts can help to stem the flow of workers away from
rural areas because of a lack of employment opportunities. This
situation is typical and extremely topical especially for small familiar
agri-business, and in many cases, these non-agricultural activities have very
important and useful impact on rural development.
Besides this, agricultural chambers may fulfil some
other functions, like boosting agricultural exports and attracting foreign
capital into domestic agriculture, foresting and food production sectors.
Summarizing the above said, we should draw a conclusion that European
Chambers of Agriculture practice and experience can be very useful for Ukraine
in order to reach economic growth, creating jobs and new business opportunities
in countryside areas by developing rural infrastructure, dissemination of
information, debates and trainings. Ukrainian Chamber of Agriculture was
established in 2005. It consists of 23 regional chambers and an Arbitrage. However,
the Parliament of Ukraine have not yet adopted a law to regulate powers and
activity of agricultural chambers in Ukraine. According to the opinion of some
foreign experts, this is the main reason why Ukrainian Chamber of Agriculture
still cannot provide an effective public influence and control of the state
agricultural and rural development policy.
References
1.
Agricultural markets in a transitioning economy : an Albanian case study
/ [edited by Catherine Chan-Halbrendt and
Jean Fantle-Lepczyk].
– UK: CABI, 2013. – 256 p.
2.
Chamber of agriculture and forestry. Building on long
tradition of high quality agriculture. – Retrieved from
http://www.european-times.com/sector/chamber-of-agriculture-and-forestry.
3.
Ïàíàñåíêî Â. Äîñâ³ä ͳìå÷÷èíè ó ñôåð³
ðàö³îíàëüíîãî âèêîðèñòàííÿ ³ çáåðåæåííÿ ´ðóíò³â. /  Ïàíàñåíêî //
Çåìëåâïîðÿäíèé â³ñíèê. – 2012. – ¹ 11. – ñ. 6-8.