Creating resilient agricultural systems

Agricultural systems in transition economies are characterized by very heterogeneous structures and business models. There are large differences in their performance and they face significant challenges. These include market uncertainties, limited access to capital, land and skilled labor, underdeveloped transport, training and extension infrastructures, and climate change. Superimposed on these are the requirements of environmental and climate protection or digitalization. This raises the question of how agriculture can be enabled to fulfill its social functions in this environment.

Specifically, this thematic complex is dedicated to the analysis of entrepreneurial strategies and success factors of agroholdings as well as small-scale agricultural structures including the balancing of entrepreneurial, social and ecological goals. Another focus includes the understanding of agrarian structural processes, such as the sometimes intense local competition on land markets and the path dependency of agrarian structural change.