Deep Roots

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family farms have come together to form the cooperative,

providing support to ensure they are able to develop a viable

income from their farms. Initially, the cooperative focused on

developing short supply chains to capture more of the profit

from their produce, build relationships with their consumers

and raise awareness of their farms. This led to the realization

that they needed processing facilities to add the maximum

value to their products. In 2008, they secured funding through

their LEADER

Local Action Group and built a multipurpose

processing barn as a community project, including a juicing

and preserves room, herb processing facilities, a meat-cutting

room and a dairy. Following this success the cooperative has

added further value to its products through catering and the

sale of ‘street food’ in its mobile café, and is extending this

initiative into a mobile shop to service local rural areas.

Short supply chains

Local food supply chains make it easier for customers to iden-

tify the origin of their purchases, and they are often willing to

pay a premium for fresher and healthier options. By strength-

ening the relationship between consumers and local farmers,

such supply chains promote local family enterprise and boost

regional identity.

The organization of food chains is a priority in the 2014-

2020 rural development policy.

The EAFRD-funded

measures aim to help family farmers to sell their products

directly to consumers

or at least to become involved in

short supply chains, and to better integrate family farms

into distribution channels by providing support for quality

schemes,

adding value to agricultural products, promotion

in local markets and short supply chains, producer groups

and inter-branch organisations.

In addition, the LEADER

approach will continue to provide Local Action Groups with

the grounds they need to support innovative and experimen-

tal approaches to stimulate direct sales and the development

of local food markets, where foreseen as part of the Local

Development Strategy.

Case study:

A Hungarian family farm in the Borsod-Abaùj-

Zemplén region grows and sells local fruit varieties and the

family also runs a tourist attraction, whose visitor numbers

are increasing. To strengthen the overall viability of the family

business, the farm’s operations were expanded to include

added-value fruit products. EAFRD funding helped to partly

offset the total cost for the purchase of modern fruit process-

ing equipment, compliant with EU food quality standards.

The fruit processing plant has shortened the supply chain for

quality fruit products, adding value to local agricultural prod-

ucts and enhancing the economic sustainability of both the

beneficiary’s family business and other local fruit growers.

Adding value

Many regional specialities and traditional foods are produced

on family farms – foods that are closely associated with the

farms they came from. Many of these can qualify for status

as protected Geographical Indications (GIs). This is a proven

way for small farmers to communicate directly with the wider

market, but also to protect valuable assets in the names and

traditions of local specialities.

The CAP includes schemes to protect farmers’ rights and

traditional products, by protecting product names from

misuse and imitation and helping consumers by giving

them information concerning the specific character of the

products. These are the GI schemes which cover agricultural

products and foodstuffs closely linked to a geographical area,

and the ‘Traditional Speciality Guaranteed’ scheme which

highlights traditional character, either in the composition

or means of production.

The future of family farms

Family farming has survived in Europe over centuries,

re-emerging from crises, wars and natural disasters, adjust-

ing to changing economic fortunes and, in some countries,

to dramatic changes in political context. This has never been

a smooth and painless process, as many small farmers have

disappeared over decades to give way to more efficient and

competitive farms, able to adopt new inputs and technolo-

gies. It is beyond doubt that family farming will survive and

will continue to be dominant in EU agriculture as far as the

number of farms is concerned, and that traditional smaller-

scale family farming will continue to be the core of agriculture

in many regions.

With the majority of the EU’s farms being family farms,

discussion about innovative approaches to the promotion

and sustainability of the family farming model is certain to

continue. The CAP’s role in addressing the challenges set out

above and the new ones which will arise, not least as a result

of climate change, will be key to assuring the future of the

family farming sector, and with it the preservation of the EU’s

rural communities and their local economies, traditions and

agricultural practices.

Innovative approaches to the promotion and sustainability of family farming

will continue to be a subject of discussion

Image: European Commission

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