Plateforme de connaissances sur l'agriculture familiale

Family farms are the backbone of Hungarian agriculture. The national economy benefits greatly from family farming both as a contributor to GDP and as a contributor to the creation and maintenance of public goods. It is a priority for the Hungarian Government to create an enabling policy environment in favour of family farming and to provide adequate support to maintain and strengthen this farming method. There is no single definition for family farms in Hungary as they differ greatly as well in size as in their management. There are various types of family farmers in Hungary, such as individual farmers, part-time farmers, individual entrepreneurs, limited liability companies and also farmers’ co-operatives. The National Land Act (Act No. CXXII/2013.) classifies family farming as a type of business where a family owns, leases and uses in total no more than 300 hectares of agricultural land and employs at least one family member in full time and other family members contribute to the work as well. The number of family farms has increased in the past two years in Hungary and has reached 18 000 in 2014.

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Supporting measures of the Hungarian Government in favour of family farmers include among others: special taxation rules and simplified administrative procedures, improvement of financial environment (credits, financing tools), development of markets, targeted support for young farmers, creating short supply chains, encouraging diversification of on-farm activities and agro-tourism, supporting organic agriculture. Detailed information is provided (see Resources section) on the following national programmes dedicated to supporting family farming, local procurement and sale as well as to increasing rural employment: School Feeding Programs, Prettiest Kitchen Gardens Program, Social Land Program, Advisory Scheme for Family Farms and the START Public Employment Scheme.

Hungary hosted the Global Forum and Expo on Family Farming between 4-6 March 2014 in Budapest as a key event of the UN International Year of Family Farming. The event was jointly organized by the Hungarian Government and FAO, and attracted participants from 104 countries representing a wide range of stakeholders. The outcomes of the event were presented in the Conference Summary Conclusions, which are available at the conference website: http://familyfarming.kormany.hu/index.

Farm structure in Hungary
The average farm size in Hungary is 8.6 ha (for companies 486 ha and for individuals: 3.4 ha). Hungarian agriculture is characterised by a bipolar farm structure: large farms above 100 ha use 72.2% of all areas, while they constitute only 1% of all farms. Whereas 93.4% of individual farms are below 10 ha, and account only for 25% of the land used (70% of them own less than 1 ha). The majority of individual farms serve as a supplementary income source. Further concentration of land use is foreseen.

Hungarian Agriculture in Figures
Total area: 9,3 million ha
Agricultural land: 5,5 million ha
Arable land: 4,3 million ha
Main crops: grain, maize, sunflower, rapeseed, fruits and vegetables
Animal husbandry: cattle, pig, poultry, sheep and goat

Role of agriculture in the Hungarian economy (2014)
Share of agriculture in GDP: 3-4 % (agribusiness: 13 %)
Share in employment: 4-5 %
Agricultural export: 6.2 billion Euros
Agricultural import: 3.8 billion Euros
Share in national export: 8-10 %