Rural development supports, drawings and results

Biró, Szabolcs – Nemes, Gusztáv

Keywords: rural development, quality of life, gross value added, LEADER

The modest results of the operation of the Rural Development Programmes in Hun-gary over the last ten years that their application have contributed to the reduction in migration from rural areas. Rural development mobilised the countryside, pro-grammes have created opportunities for the rural economy, helped to preserve the en-vironmental values and stimulated rural society with community initiatives. The main shortcoming of the programmes is that they tended to mitigate the symptoms rather than encourage sustainable development and seek creative solutions. In the rural ar-eas, development is determined by social constraints and basic infrastructure needs rather than the needs of economic development. A further lesson is that investment in agriculture is basically market oriented and that rural development in itself is unable to stop the unfavourable regional processes that cause the lagging behind of disadvan-taged areas. A number of areas can be highlighted for the development of such rural areas, both in terms of economic and social considerations, and agriculture struggling with competitive disadvantages, which could simultaneously remedy the problems of the sector and the countryside. The challenge of rural development in next European Union programming period (2014-2020) is the simultaneous increase in value added and in job creation as well as the underlying human resource development, entrepre-neurship and economic development based on innovative ideas, and shaping their framework of co-operation.

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