The Role of Local Marketing in Csíkszereda and its Agglomeration

Péter, Emőke Katalin – Illyés, László

Keywords: producers, farmers’ vision, qualifications, data mining, Q12, Q13

Agriculture plays an outstandingly important role in Romania since there are approximately three and a half million of small farms accounting for 90% of the total number of farms, and scarcely more than 32% of the available agricultural land is cultivated by 35% of the population. Due to the special geographic properties of the settlements belonging to the agglomeration of Csíkszereda and to its specific land tenure system deriving from these properties the majority of farms preserve the land tenure system formed after the regime changes, and not infrequently they consist of small family farms cultivating less than 5 hectares of land. Planning based mainly on production starts to give way to decisions taken based on marketing activities. We are witnessing the recontextualization of the notions of local products and traditional local markets, and their ever-greater success. The marketing of good quality products made from local raw material with traditional methods justifies the sustenance of family farms. Data mining methods reveal a strong correlation between the farmers’ qualification and their vision of the future: extension and development require a deeper knowledge, while lowly qualified farmers tend to choose reduction or total liquidation. Farmers delivering to local markets pursue to extend their farms in the long run. The interviewees contend that “land can be sold only once,” therefore in many cases the sustenance of the farm has become the end goal of multigenerational cooperation. The managers of farms run with the help of two or more active family members strive for long run sustainability. Younger farmers are usually more qualified and more open to innovations. The vast majority of farmers under the age of 45 consider that it is important to market their goods through local tourism and they are eager to join producer groups. Young farmers have to merge traditional knowledge inherited from the previous generations with more modern knowledge concerning production and marketing. With the knowledge gained in this way, small farms are enabled to market their goods through short supply chains.

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