The smallest farms in Mediterranean countries and Hungary

Varga, Éva

Keywords: smallest farms, standard output (SO), employment, Mediterranean, Hungary

The purpose of this analysis is to compare the smallest farms in Hungary with those of the largest southern European Union countries (Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece). Farms which are engaged in agricultural activities and produce less than EUR 2000 standard output (SO) are examined. Although the number of such farms is steadily declining as a result of techno-logical development and land concentration, and their economic significance is low, their ex-istence and their activity are still important for several reasons, such as the maintenance of the natural landscape and for the social viability of rural populations. In the four Mediterranean countries, about one third of all farms belong to the category of less than 2000 EUR in terms of SO, while in Hungary the figure is two-thirds. In the Mediterranean countries at least 98 per cent of the smallest farms (compared to 92 per cent in Hungary) have farmland, but many fewer farms carry out livestock production. Although almost all of them grow crops, they cul-tivate only a small percentage of the agricultural area and their livestock numbers are negligi-ble. They typically produce for their own consumption, but in terms of providing employment – perhaps we can say without exaggeration – they are essential. A substantial share of agricul-tural work can be linked to the smallest farms (25 per cent in Portugal, for example). In Hun-gary, the figure is particularly high, as in 2010 40 per cent of all agricultural work was carried out on the smallest farms. In that year the SO produced by the smallest farms was on average around EUR 1000 for the four Mediterranean countries, and just over EUR 700 in Hungary. If these values are compared to the level of the at risk of poverty income threshold, it appears that the smallest farms do not provide a livelihood even for the smallest households but they provide only supplementary income to farmers.

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