Development scenarios and opportunities for rural households in mountain areas

Abstract

The subsistence agriculture that is still practiced by rural households remains very much under the influence of traditionalism: crops include more or less cereals and field crops, while animal husbandry covers the needs of the household.The development of the society and its demands, and the laws of the market economy, all call for the reorientation of traditional agriculture. Thus, peasants should consider their households not only as food production units, but also as a piece of land where business can be conducted. Depending on demand, on entrepreneurs’ courage and even on their imagination, a plot of land may generate significant income from newly established and more intensive activities: gardening, medicinal plants, ponds, traditional processing of agricultural products, agritourism etc.We aim to provide a comparative assessment for two types of households: focused exclusively on agricultural activity, possibly selling output on food markets in the county; engaged in agricultural activity and additional agritourism/ rural tourism/ ecotourism (hotel, hostel) activities. For the designed scenario / model we analysed income and expenditure patterns for: family wage income and self-consumption; farming activity; combined agritourism and farming activities.