INCOME, EXPENDITURES AND AGRIFOOD CONSUMPTION OF THE RURAL POPULATION IN ROMANIA – AN OVERVIEW OF THE LAST TWO DECADES Camelia Gavrilescu, Camelia Toma, Crina Turtoi Institute for Agricultural Economics Romanian Academy “20 years of farming and rural transition in Eastern European countries: what have we learned?” A conference Rural'Est-SFER, october 2011, Agrosup Dijon, France

During the last 2 decades... Romania has made huge efforts to achieve several goals in its agrifood sector: to transform it from a centrally planned to a market-driven one; to develop and modernise it; to adapt it to the requirements imposed by the accession to the European Union

Rural area in Romania means … 45% of the total population (45.7% in 1990  44.9% in 2009)

Agricultural and industrial employment (‘000 persons)

Agricultural and industrial employment (% in total employment)

… generated a rather important part of the GDP

Factors influencing that trend… Intrinsic to the agrifood sector: restructuring of land ownership and use; restructuring of the agrifood chains; Good / bad agricultural year Extrinsic to the agrifood sector: restructuring in secondary and tertiary economic sectors increasing urban unemployment lack non-agricultural unemployment Inflation exchange rate etc.

Average real salaries and pensions indices (1990=100)

Average and minimum salary in the Romanian economy (1990=100)

Income in the agricultural sector Dynamics of household income is a reflection of: economic conditions constraints that have been increasingly tougher Various types of reactions in the agrifood sector: Occupational diversification: Pluriactive households Decrease of full-time agricultural employment Migration of labor (to urban areas / abroad) Investment and development

Income structure in agricultural households (average )

Income structure in agricultural households High share of on-farm consumption (~50%) Low share of agrifood product sales (14-20%) Daily income per capita in rural households: 3-4 EUR Income in farmer households are only 50-56% of those in urban households

Total income (average per family member – EUR/day) All households Rural households Employees households Farmers households

Structure of consumption expenditures (average )

Structure of consumption expenditures, by sources

Crop products consumption trend

Main trends in food consumption (crop products) high consumption of bread and cereal products, that represent the basic food items for all household types. cereals provide 45% of calories in population’s diet (48% in the rural area)  low food diversification; increase of consumption in cereals, potatoes and vegetables until ; cereals  potatoes  fruit and vegetables   decline of fruit consumption due to domestic production decline and price increase

Animal products consumption trend

Main trends in food consumption (animal products) low consumption of meat and meat products, compared to the European average pork and chicken = 75-80% of total fresh meat consumption low preference for beef (<10-13%; 8-10% in rural areas) very low preference for fish high share of consumption from household own resources for certain products such as eggs and milk

Main trends in food consumption (animal products) last 8 years (since 2002): fresh meat - increase of total quantity (~20%) increase of chicken at expense of beef but mostly of pork in rural areas, chicken is already half of total fresh meat consumption increase of milk and dairy products consumption, mainly due to domestic production increase

Beverages consumption trend

Daily average food consumption per capita

Main trends in food consumption high consumption of bread and cereal products, that represent the basic food items for all household types cereals provide 45% of calories in population’s diet (48% in the rural area), which implies a low food diversification Almost ¾ (72-76%) of the daily ratio is coming from non-animal calories

General conclusions Romania has made huge efforts to develop its agrifood sector and rural areas Still high agricultural employment Moderate efficiency (GDP per person employed in agriculture) Lower labor prices as compared to other MS High level of on-farm consumption Food model shows low income and inadequate nutritional ratios mostly in rural areas

Thank you for your attention!