"The future of small agricultural producers" seminar on the first result of Regoverning Markets international project in CEE was held at Corvinus University of Budapest on 6 December 2006.
Program
12.30-13.30: press conference
14.00-14.10: Welcome by rector of CUB
14.10-14.30: Csaba Csáki: General overview of the project
14.30-14.50: Csaba Forgács: First results in the CEE countries
14.50-15.20: Dominika Milczarek: Restructuring of Dairy Sector - Adjustment of Small Dairy Farms in Poland
15.20-15.50: Anikó Juhász: Succesful coops in the poultry sector
15.50-16.20: Zoltán Lajos Bakucs - Imre Fertő - Gábor G. Szabó: A successful vertical coordination in the ffv sector: The case of Mórakert producer group
16.20-16.50: Questions and comments moderated by Csaba Csáki
16.50-18.00: Reception and informal discussion
Press conferenceThe main objectives were to provide information on Regoverning Markets Project and the existing regional outcomes for a broader group of mainly Hungarian stake-holders, the Hungarian media and continue our interaction with the Hungarian reference group. The program started with a press conference with the attendance of agriculture oriented media and issued a press release on the project and the seminar. The seminar was opened by the Rector of Corvinus University Budapest who also attended on the press conference. This was a major Hungarian/regional C3 event. As an introduction Csaba Csáki and Csaba Forgács presented the overall project outline and the regional results of Phase 1 respectively. Ms. Dominika Milczarek spoke about the macro and mezzo findings of the Polish C1 study and the two Phase 2 Hungarian case studies were introduced in details.
About 65 persons attended on the seminar including the representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, producer and trading organizations, cooperatives, consulting firms, academia, processors, PhD students in addition to the reference group. There was a representation from FAO and Serbia as well. Unfortunately nobody from the retail multinationals came to the conference.
Conference
The presentations were followed with a lively debate which was opened by President of Mórakert producer group /one of our case study subject/.The focus of the debate was the collective action of the smallholders. Mórakert Director outlined the underlining factors of their success .The audience debated under what conditions can the Mórakert story be repeated. There were questions regarding Poland as well as the poultry case. Some comments emphasized the importance of small holders cooperation for reducing rural poverty and in general the poverty implications of changing markets in agriculture.