Romanian farmer family makes the best of new EU regulations
The long-awaited European Union integration has not and can not change the state of agriculture for the better over night.
“In reality, all it did until now is to complicate legislation and procedures in a country where nothing is clear or simple. It’s like opening a small, distant window of opportunities while closing many doors in the faces of our farmers.” said Ms. Rozica Tita, World Vision Romania coordinator for an economical development project dedicated to farmers.
It’s like opening a small, distant window of opportunities while closing many doors in the faces of our farmers “For instance, while the new EU market could offer access to 500,000 consumers, lack of information, skills and modern equipment holds us back. Still, there are families that have taken on the challenges and are striving to make the best of the situation.
Just to give a simple, practical example, the process of selling produce in market places in the cities used to be very simple. All one needed was a “producer’s certificate” from the community mayor. From 2010, all producers will need to be legally registered as a sort of “certified individual entrepreneur. But all this costs money – money that many small farmers don’t have”, Ms. Tita continued.
Ionel and Lacramioara Teodorescu’s family is a perfect example of courage and changing mentalities. Together with their son Alexandru and daughter Luminita, they work their land and nurture their small cherry orchard as they learned from their parents while keeping an open mind and accepting new ideas.
Their life was never easy. From the break of day to late in the evening, Lacramioara and Ionel are out feeding the animals, working the land, picking the crops and carrying out various other tasks. This allows them to keep food on the table and their children in school.
The same can be said for about 40% of the population which works in agriculture, compared to about 6% of the population in other EU countries, according to Eurostat. Nearly 70% of rural households in Romania practice subsistence agriculture, which means they consume everything they produce, according to the Center for Economic Policies.
Before the revolution (in 1989 – when the communist regime that spanned almost 50 years finally fell), Ionel and Lacramioara had to give their lands and animals over to the state. This made people angry and bitter – a bitterness that poisoned their spirit for tens of years.
Now, 20 years later, they are faced with the irony of having to go back to the same concept – that of putting their resources together in order to make progress. One of the main EU requirements in order to grant financing to Romanian farmers refers to grant beneficiaries being part of legally constituted entities such as an association, small NGOs etc.
“It’s hard for people to accept the idea of associating again and it’s easy to understand why when we think back to the abuses that went on in the past.”
Fortunately, Ionel and Lacramioara and a few others like them have understood that this may be their only chance and have joined World Vision in a common effort to bring change to their communities. With World Vision’s support, in 2009 alone, seven new farmer associations were created in Iasi County.
We have already started to invest the money – this spring, we bought 140 young cherry trees as the ones we already had were over 40 years old and the crop was smaller each year “The Teodorescu family is part of the wine and orchards association in Costuleni commune. This allowed them to access an EU grant that will offer them 1,500 Euros/year (about US$2,000) for the following five years. This grant is not returnable – all they have to do is prove that they invested the money into their cherry orchard and that this led to the development of the orchard”, explained Ms. Tita.
“We have already started to invest the money – this spring, we bought 140 young cherry trees as the ones we already had were over 40 years old and the crop was smaller each year”, said Lacramioara.
As a tool for community development, the economical development project developed by World Vision in five communes in Iasi County also helped the wine and orchards association from Costuleni to acquire a space dedicated to processing fruit and turning grapes and cherries into jam and canned fruit. The next step is to acquire proper equipment for sinks, work boards, cooking stoves etc.
“Our biggest accomplishment was to receive an EU Traditional Produce Certification for cherry jam and caned cherries produced by the association. The concept of Traditional Produce is quite new to Romanians but highly appreciated by the EU consumer as it stands for a high quality and natural produce and as one that has a recognised tradition in the area where it is produced”.
“In reality, all it did until now is to complicate legislation and procedures in a country where nothing is clear or simple. It’s like opening a small, distant window of opportunities while closing many doors in the faces of our farmers.” said Ms. Rozica Tita, World Vision Romania coordinator for an economical development project dedicated to farmers.
It’s like opening a small, distant window of opportunities while closing many doors in the faces of our farmers “For instance, while the new EU market could offer access to 500,000 consumers, lack of information, skills and modern equipment holds us back. Still, there are families that have taken on the challenges and are striving to make the best of the situation.
Just to give a simple, practical example, the process of selling produce in market places in the cities used to be very simple. All one needed was a “producer’s certificate” from the community mayor. From 2010, all producers will need to be legally registered as a sort of “certified individual entrepreneur. But all this costs money – money that many small farmers don’t have”, Ms. Tita continued.
Ionel and Lacramioara Teodorescu’s family is a perfect example of courage and changing mentalities. Together with their son Alexandru and daughter Luminita, they work their land and nurture their small cherry orchard as they learned from their parents while keeping an open mind and accepting new ideas.
Their life was never easy. From the break of day to late in the evening, Lacramioara and Ionel are out feeding the animals, working the land, picking the crops and carrying out various other tasks. This allows them to keep food on the table and their children in school.
The same can be said for about 40% of the population which works in agriculture, compared to about 6% of the population in other EU countries, according to Eurostat. Nearly 70% of rural households in Romania practice subsistence agriculture, which means they consume everything they produce, according to the Center for Economic Policies.
Before the revolution (in 1989 – when the communist regime that spanned almost 50 years finally fell), Ionel and Lacramioara had to give their lands and animals over to the state. This made people angry and bitter – a bitterness that poisoned their spirit for tens of years.
Now, 20 years later, they are faced with the irony of having to go back to the same concept – that of putting their resources together in order to make progress. One of the main EU requirements in order to grant financing to Romanian farmers refers to grant beneficiaries being part of legally constituted entities such as an association, small NGOs etc.
“It’s hard for people to accept the idea of associating again and it’s easy to understand why when we think back to the abuses that went on in the past.”
Fortunately, Ionel and Lacramioara and a few others like them have understood that this may be their only chance and have joined World Vision in a common effort to bring change to their communities. With World Vision’s support, in 2009 alone, seven new farmer associations were created in Iasi County.
We have already started to invest the money – this spring, we bought 140 young cherry trees as the ones we already had were over 40 years old and the crop was smaller each year “The Teodorescu family is part of the wine and orchards association in Costuleni commune. This allowed them to access an EU grant that will offer them 1,500 Euros/year (about US$2,000) for the following five years. This grant is not returnable – all they have to do is prove that they invested the money into their cherry orchard and that this led to the development of the orchard”, explained Ms. Tita.
“We have already started to invest the money – this spring, we bought 140 young cherry trees as the ones we already had were over 40 years old and the crop was smaller each year”, said Lacramioara.
As a tool for community development, the economical development project developed by World Vision in five communes in Iasi County also helped the wine and orchards association from Costuleni to acquire a space dedicated to processing fruit and turning grapes and cherries into jam and canned fruit. The next step is to acquire proper equipment for sinks, work boards, cooking stoves etc.
“Our biggest accomplishment was to receive an EU Traditional Produce Certification for cherry jam and caned cherries produced by the association. The concept of Traditional Produce is quite new to Romanians but highly appreciated by the EU consumer as it stands for a high quality and natural produce and as one that has a recognised tradition in the area where it is produced”.
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