REC - EMTC: Insight 3/2: Green riches of region threatened by CAP

C O V E R  S T O R Y

Green riches of region threatened by CAP

Trainers can help farmers adapt to difficult market conditions in the European Union and provide valuable information on environmentally-friendly techniques.

BY SARAH ROE

INTENSIVE farming helped wipe out species in the EU. Now the Common Agricultural Policy could do the same to the East.

The rolling plains, wild grasslands and leafy forests of Central Europe could be in for a shock. When the accession countries join the European Union, the environmental implications of a common agricultural policy (CAP) might well be significant. Central European farmers, getting more money for their goods and improving their productivity, will be able to afford fertilisers and pesticides to spray on their crops and invest into more intensive production. Without adequate information, they are unlikely to learn from Western Europe's mistakes. In the meantime foreign companies, currently unable to buy land directly in the region, are expected to take advantage of the free market situation and buy up large areas of farmland for intensive production.

Environmentalists get a sinking feeling when they think about unification. "I'm afraid that joining the EU will negatively affect Polish agriculture," says organic agricultural specialist Ursula Soltysiak of Warsaw University. "The EU and CAP will force our farms to die. Only a third will survive as big farms, according to West European models — it's bad for the environment, the landscape and the general mentality but it's unavoidable," she predicts.

The European Union says it doesn't have to be like that. Agricultural spokesman Gerard Kiely stresses that environmental issues are an important part of his department's new reform proposals. "There is a greater greening of the CAP every time and more influence on rural development," he told Insight. Unlike the traditional EU system, farmers will not be eligible for financial support based on their produce but will instead be able to apply for money from the authorities on the basis of the type of farming they practice. They will be able to claim support if they are working in marginal areas or if they work with environmentally friendly or ecotourism-type activities.

That will mean more importance placed on extensive farming like livestock grazing and increased emphasis on quality. Peter Veen of the Netherlands-based non-profit organisation Avalon, says less intensive production is the only way forward for accession countries. "If all these countries come to the EU there will be too much production — the price of agricultural land is low in CEE so it is possible to start new farms, with a low labour input," he suggests.

Economists argue differently. Tibor Ferenczi of the Budapest University of Economic Sciences pointed out to regional magazine Business Central Europe that a large Hungarian farm produces the same amount as two standard Dutch farms of just 15-20 hectares. To compete on a level playing field with Western Europe, Hungarian farmers will have a dilemma: Should they choose to produce a small amount of very high quality produce farmed on a large amount of land, claiming subsidies from the government because of their environmentally friendly practices? Or should they farm intensively on a smaller amount of land, improving their quality but looking more at large turnover and profits?

The European Union hopes that farmers will choose the first option. To try and encourage this development it is funding an agri-environmental scheme in eight Central and East European countries. Training will be a crucial aspect of that. Next year organisers will instruct university lecturers and civil society organisations (CSOs) in the methods of agri-environment, who will then help train local farmers. The project will try to encourage farmers to see good market opportunities, as well as basic training on respect for the environment. It will try to emphasise the best path for each country. "The problem is that there is a big difference between countries, so the agricultural situation in France and Spain is totally different from that in the UK or the Netherlands," says Veen, who works with the agri-environment project. The same climatic and land use differences apply to Central and Eastern Europe.

Organic tuition

ATwice a month organic specialist Ursula Soltysiak of Warsaw university lectures Polish farmers around the country on the merits of giving up chemicals. Most of them don't use so many fertilisers and chemicals anyway because they don't have the funds. Nevertheless, there are only 300 out of Poland's more than two million family farms who are certified as organic.

A self-confessed devotee of organic principles, Soltysiak feels that figure can grow. She says the method is an important business opportunity that Polish farmers could seize. At the moment 95 percent of organic produce is sold domestically, with just a handful of larger farms which have links to German and Dutch importers. That means limited opportunities for farmers, since much of the Polish population cannot afford the extra cost of buying organic or do not consider it to be important. But with improved links to Western Europe, where demand is high for natural products, organic farming could be a valuable export opportunity.

At the moment there is little impetus from the government to encourage that kind of development. Unlike neighbouring Hungary, in Poland there is is no national regulation governing organic agriculture. The vast bulk of Hungarian organic produce is exported and the Hungarian inspection system has already been included in the EU list of accepted countries. The Coalition for Development of Organic Agriculture in Poland, established last year, aims to raise awareness throughout the country. The group tries to lobby parliament and authorities to support organic farming. Activists believe that going organic is the obvious way for Central and East European farming to move, since the countries already use much less fertiliser compared to Western Europe.

But the main issue is cost-effectiveness, not ideology. To make it work farmers must learn to organise themselves more efficiently and produce consistent quality products which can be sold on Western markets. At the moment it's only the large farms which have managed to do that, but with a bit of encouragement and a more entrepreneurial-style attitude, Soltysiak hopes that smaller ones will also be able to compete.

While the European Union's new reform proposals do aim to encourage eco-friendly techniques, its agricultural spokesman Gerry Kiely is sceptical that organic farming could be implemented on a large scale in Central and Eastern Europe. "The problem with organic farming is that the returns are not substantial enough," he says. The low output and relatively low prices received for the product means there is little profit, adds Kiely. For some, a half-way house between organic and farming with agrochemicals might be a more attractive option.

WEEDING fodder peas (Hungary) 1958. Dicta from a central government decimated the crop variety of Hungarian agriculture, yet labour intensive techniques enabled many habitats to survive.

While trainers won't necessarily advocate organic farming, they will encourage integrated farming methods, which permits a more controlled use of chemicals. Planting hedges, rather than fences, also helps to maintain biodiversity in a farmed area.

Despite the new reform proposals, farmers in a larger European Union will find business tough. West European farmers will notice a drop in prices for their products while East Europeans will have to compete on the aggressive open market. To make matters more difficult for new members, for a few years West European farmers will be able to receive compensation for the drop in prices, which Central and East Europeans won't be eligible to claim.

Training farmers to look at the market opportunities with an entrepreneurial eye will be crucial since smaller farms just won't be able to survive. Mr Veen predicts that only those of between 50-100 hectares will manage to profit. At present a large proportion of the region's farms are below that size and struggle to make ends meet.

Better communication will inevitably help. Many farmers are unaware of global market trends and therefore cannot plan their production. For example, the grain crisis that hit much of the region earlier this year could have been eased a little if farmers had known there was a world recession in grain. In West European countries there are extension services for farmers to enable them to find out about products and receive information and advice, but at present this kind of service is underdeveloped in Central and Eastern Europe. Poor telecommunications systems only exacerbate the problem.

Another consideration in Central and Eastern Europe is that many farmers in the region, with the exception of those in Poland, have no background in farming but have newly inherited the land from the state. That means, says Veen, that farmers have fewer ties and less respect for the land. Most West Europ-ean farmers have inherited the land and feel bonded to it, while those in the East have no such historic links. Local organisations and trainers must work together with farmers to try and bring back that sense of belonging. Whether farmers choose to opt for the quick money of intensive farming or the longer term possibil-ities of extensive production, is another matter.

Wild one

Central and Eastern Europe may not be economically rich but conservationists set its wealth in different terms. Birds, animals and rare plant species which are all but extinct in Western Europe are flourishing in the fields and forests of the region.

Joining the European Union could damage this biodiversity. The common agricultural policy, integrated transport system and developed industry could all have a serious impact on Central and Eastern Europe's wildlife. As a result, nature conservation organisations and international environmental programmes have focussed their attention on trying to preserve the riches which have been lost from the West.

Training and information transfer is inevitably part of that. A Global Environmental Facility (GEF) biodiversity project in Bulgaria aims to build up a protected area system to allow species to flourish undisturbed. Around one third of Bulgaria is covered in forests, while in the whole Balkan region there are an estimated 7,000 vascular plant species. Although the areas were protected, after a training needs assessment it became clear that ministries for environment and forestry had different ideas of conservation. "The ministry of environment was much more aware of biodiversity issues and the modern processes of carrying out tasks, while the committee for forestry was accustomed to on-the-ground management activity," noticed Ian Deshmukh, senior adviser of the GEF project. "The forestry committee had a solid organisational base but saw training needs in a fairly narrow perspective," he said. On the other hand, staff at the newer established ministry of environment felt they needed much broader training in management, modern techniques, teams and partnership.

The lack of policy coordination and cooperation between ministerial departments experienced in Bulgaria is indicative of a wider problem throughout the region. Biodiversity can only be protected if ministries, organisations and individuals at a grassroots level work together. Mira Mileva at the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe, aims to try and get all the sides around the negotiating table. "What we would like to do is help these sectors to meet and put nature conservation as a priority," she told Insight. REC acts as secretariat to the Sofia Biodiversity Initiative, one of four schemes started at the 1995 ministerial conference to help Centraland Eastern European countries meet wider European environmental goals. Mileva hopes that before CEE countries join the European Union, they will have developed adequate regulations to resist the inevitable threats from farmers intensifying production in sensitive areas and roadbuilders and construction companies seeking greenfield sites.

REC * EMTC * PUBLICATIONS * INSIGHT * AUTUMN 1998