Barriers, like opportunities, have different and diverse connotations
depending on the country, political regime, degree of development, soil
and subsoil resources, geographical and geopolitical position, etc. So:
a) In countries where there are large agricultural enterprises, very
strong groups, mostly international, which coagulate new classes of
financial investors, until recently not traditionally involved in the
agricultural sector, namely banking groups, investment funds, individual
traders and private equity companies , "land transaction brokers" etc.,
they professionally and efficiently manage the production mechanisms and
method, imposing their own industrial strategies and defining, in the last
resort, even the taste and quality of the food products we consume.
These groups possess technologies and laboratories for the production of
germplasm of the highest quality (varieties and hybrids of plants and
animals, Genetically Modified Organisms, etc.), are in a relationship with
or govern the large markets, ensuring the possibility of selling the food
products obtained , benefit from subsidies and preferential political
"treatments", far surpassing as "applied artificial intelligence" the
holders of knowledge, respectively the actors in the domestic agri-food
systems, including the university type.
b) In countries where there are, for the most part, small and
medium-sized owners, usually not organized in Cooperatives or other forms
of association and extension, the phenomenon of land grabbing occurs, that
is, of selling/buying land at minimum prices, as a consequence of the lack
of the constant access to specialized consulting, to the domestic
manufacturer's sales market, the lack of access to stimulating financing
to develop the business, the lack of access to large retail chains, which
have very high procurement standards from the point of view of this
category by producers (including in terms of labeling and packaging),
often requesting certifications issued by international and independent
bodies, for certain categories of products, all of which presuppose
knowledge as well as significant financial costs.
In addition, local producers do not have a developed production and
distribution process, which is why other difficulties arise, such as
effective access to retailer representatives, storage of goods,
organization of transport at local or national level or ensuring a
continuous annual flow of products to meet the needs of retailers.
Conclusively, small and medium producers, those who should be the basis of
agro-food production, cannot build and do not have an organized system of
the market for the produced food, through which they can also benefit from
the introduction and rapid absorption of new knowledge, in order to the
adoption of new technologies and the correct fulfillment of business
obligations.
Also, these producers do not have adequate knowledge regarding the
importance of digitizing their work, nor do they invest in acquiring
managerial skills, do not consistently participate in the provision of
data and do not technically exploit their scientific interpretation.
As a specialist in Food Security and Safety, I believe that any national
agri-food system, based on knowledge, requires a synergistic support of
national and community policies, including financial ones, for better
functioning, for a coherent implementation of governance and resilience
systems existing or future.
Univ. Prof. Dr. Benone Ion PASARIN
Romania
先生 Benone - Ion Pasarin