Rationale

Poland is a typical rural country with a still well preserved traditional countryside landscape. Approximately half of Poland's territory is arable and as much as 28% of the working age population is employed in agriculture. This is a lot if compared with an average of 4.3% for the European Community.

Out of 1.8 million Polish farms 55% are small - they are less then 5 hectares of land. In the past they were sufficient to support farm families. With Poland's transition to free market economy, however, they are not on their own competitive enough to secure the minimum standard of living for farm families. As a result small scale farmers quickly fall into a trap of poverty.

Giving up farming in favor of other employment is not a solution for most of them. To find jobs outside agriculture is impossible because of a high unemployment rate - on average 20% and as high as 40% in rural areas - as well as low mobility of the farmers, lack of education and locally operated businesses. Therefore, many owners of small farm holdings will strive for survival for years to come, relying solely on income from their farms.

Polish agriculture - seen by some as backward - can be used as a base to build a system of small, modern farms working closely together. Farmers in Poland do not need to copy the big industrial farm model. Instead, they should learn from each other and use their experience to develop a model of farming most suited to the Polish conditions. Choosing a path of sustainable development would allow the farmers to live their lives in dignity and at the same time to preserve the beautiful, traditional Polish farm landscape and to foster biodiversity in agriculture - an important part of the national heritage and a treasure worth protecting

Polish membership in European Union is not solving problems of the farmers in Poland. This is because their starting point is dramatically lower than the one of the EU farmers. Even better-off Polish farmers (about 50% of house holdings) have difficulties to compete with more technologically advanced Western European producers. Small scale farmers, who are not eligible for EU investment support, may easily become the most disadvantaged group of Polish citizens after transformation. To help them to find the best way to survive, and later to become sustainable in the new circumstances is a big challenge for the HPI program in Poland. HPI hopes to play an important role in improving economic status of the Polish small scale farmers and in preventing environmental degradation caused by industrial agriculture.