The aim of the presented project is to strengthen cooperation in the field of innovation of pedagogical activities between selected higher education institutions and professional organisations with regard to strengthening the competencies of small farms managed by young farmers in the context of value creation, agricultural cooperation and the emerging "Farm-to-Fork" strategy. The content of the project will be the characteristics of s small farms managed by young farmers, the definition of their functions (economic, production, technical, social, cultural and ecological), the evaluation of the position of farms at the national and international level, the characteristics of critical points and mitigation strategies. The impact of agricultural policies and legislative changes on the functioning of individual entities will be simulated by a software solution. The chosen strategy to support farm viability is cooperation / collaboration between farmers, farmers and other parts of the food supply chain. Two outputs are prepared for the development of this strategy: examples of good practice and a virtual price comparison tool. The prepared outputs will be used in the teaching process of agricultural students and will also serve as a background tool for science and research. Outputs will be mostly prepared in English and languages of partner institutions (CZ, HU, LT, PL, SK). Other outputs will be three conferences organised as multiplication events and one workshop.
The aim of the project was to create an internationally and content-varied set of outputs prepared as part of international cooperation, which, in the context of the newly proposed strategy, will help young farmers on small farms to adapt to new conditions, assuming long-term viability, sustainability of agricultural activities and increasing the added value of production. The project, carried out jointly by representatives of academia and business practice, also aimed to identify good practices and actions to strengthen the market position of small farms run by young farmers in supply chains, aiming to improve their socio-economic viability. The level and forms of public support dedicated to these entities and institutional solutions aimed at supporting the processes of vertical and horizontal integration of small farms were also evaluated.
Small farms cannot use the development strategy of large agricultural enterprises with regard to the time, administrative, capital and knowledge requirements. The opportunity for successful viability and sustainability is intensive production that creates high added value. This usually means manufacturing labor-intensive and pre-processing products. A barrier to development is often a lack of investment capital and difficulties in entering the market (specifically in retail chains). The changes being prepared as part of the Green Deal and Farm-to-Fork strategy and the characteristics of agriculture will determine the situation, which will significantly affect the situation of young farmers managing small farms. Therefore, the education of agricultural students, the professional training of active young farmers is a necessary aspect of the long-term perspective of agriculture in the context of the upcoming changes. It is important to emphasize the problems of viability of small agricultural enterprises, to define weaknesses and critical points that can significantly affect the whole process in the long term and to promote activities that enable successful and long-term viable agriculture.