Transformation of Small Farmers Groups in East Europe: Comparison of Ukraine, Czech Republic, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova

Ludmila Böhmová

Bachelor's thesis

Abstract:

Cooperatives are popular all across the world. As community-owned and run enterprises they are empowering its members and contributing to sustainable economic growth. The role and perception of agricultural cooperatives in CEE countries and CIS has been tarnished by the communist rule and the forced collectivisation.This Bachelor Thesis presents general overview of cooperatives in CEE countries and CIS and their typology. This work is further focused on the analysis of recent development of agricultural cooperatives in Eastern Europe and in countries of former Soviet Union. The research was done in two ways. Firstly, through the analysis of secondary data obtained from scientific articles and reports. Secondly, through the evaluation of primary data collected through questionnaires in Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. Data showed that after the dissolvement of USSR all the countries took various routes of transforming collectivistic state farms, even though they share similar historical cooperative backgrounds. In Ukraine there is a high share of agri-holdings. In Georgia and Moldova land was restructured into high-fragmentation farmland, which affected the size and structure of agricultural cooperatives. The Czech Republic cooperatives did not really dissolve, but more or less morphed into a new version and changed their legislative status.

Keywords

CEE, CIS, cooperative development, cooperative typology, agricultural policies, external support

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 19. 4. 2019

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: Ing. Jiří Hejkrlík, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences

Bachelor programme / field:
Tropical Agriculture / International Cooperation in Agriculture and Rural Development