Agnieszka Otłowska

Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics

National Research Institute (IAFE-NRI), Poland

Parcels of Non-Farming Rural Families and Methods of Using them

ABSTRACT. One of the determinants of the transformation process in agriculture and socio-economic changes occurring within rural areas is constituted by progressive status variations of inhabitants of rural areas resulting from the diversity of income sources. As indicated by the research of IAFE-NRI, nearly 57% of inhabitants of rural areas do not possess a farm. These families, referred to as non-farming or non-farmer ones, make a living by earning money beyond agriculture, but it does not mean that they do not posses of use smaller land parcels. Over ¾ of them have a parcel at disposal whose area does not exceed 1 ha of agricultural land. The area thereof is usually small, but the advantages derived from them seem to be significant in the life of non-farming rural families.

Received: July, 2009

1st Revision: October, 2009

Accepted: November, 2009

JEL Classification: O18, P25

Keywords: rural areas, agricultural parcels, non-farming families.