PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PLAYERS ON THE MARKET OF AGRICULTURAL ADVICE AND EXTENSION IN ROMANIA

Abstract

Since the decentralization of the Romanian governmental agricultural advisory and extension system in 2010, most of the former network continues to perform as Chambers of Agriculture subordinated to the local public administration of the County Councils. Beyond the inadequate number of professional staff to cover a significant proportion of Romania’s farms, the present usage of the term agricultural chamber does not correspond with its original meaning. Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has taken important steps towards the provision of the legal frame for independent Chambers as well the organization of the election process for farmers’ representation. The paper provides a short overview of the last decade changes in the advisory and extension system and focuses on the outputs of two joint World Bank and Romanian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development projects aiming, among other objectives, to reform, back up and strengthens the Romanian agricultural advisory and extension system. Within the frame of the projects, new actors have emerged on the market: (i) Training and Information Centres (TICs) set up in the main regions in Romania, as knowledge resource bases for improvement and updating the professional capacity of the extension, food safety and research specialists (ii) Integrated Agricultural Offices (designed on the model “one stop shop”) established in 4 pilot areas, that bring together under a single roof, agricultural advisory and administration services and (iii) socio-economic guidance service capacities and mechanisms established in 15 counties, seeking to increase the ability of the agricultural population to sustainably manage its income and assets under consideration of national and EU support programs.