Deep Roots

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Supporting family farms for food

security and sustainable development

Daniel Constantin, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Romania

mall-scale agriculture has an essential role to play in

reaching food security and sustainable development

for humankind. However, this resource is not valued

enough, and we need to find ways to change our develop-

ment paradigms in this direction.

As I grew up I spent most of my vacations in the countryside

with my grandparents. They had a small piece of land and

they valued their farm very much. That’s where I learned most

about the strong connection the peasants have with their land

and their cultural heritage.

Romania has a long tradition in family farming; it was the

pillar on which Romanian society developed. Family farm

activities are not limited to agriculture. They also comprise

important social activities for the community and family,

preserve traditions and crafts, attract rural tourism and

agrotourism, and help to protect the environment through

extensive agricultural practices.

After the First WorldWar, Romania became one of the largest

producing countries of agricultural commodities in Europe,

exporting mostly maize, wheat and other grains. The reforms

made by the Government at the time helped families secure

a living, by giving them land and know-how in the field. The

connection between people and their land was embedded in

Romania’s rural society and it is still present in today’s villages.

The Second World War destroyed all the agricultural infra-

structure and communism took over rural life. Large state

farms were built and the land was taken away from the people.

Most farmers were moved to the cities and were employed in

newly developing industry. Those left in the villages worked

at low productivity levels for the state farms. The farming

know-how gathered over centuries, along with traditions and

crafts, were lost. The new industrialized agriculture system

took over and family farmers were replaced with simply

employees. The only land people kept was that around their

houses, where they kept growing some crops for the family.

After 1989, many moved back to the villages due to the

closing of the industry plants. They and those who still lived

there became farmers in order to survive. Their methods

were poor and their means were very low. The bad memory

Image: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Romania

In Romania, agriculture employs most rural inhabitants and most farms are under five hectares

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