Expert Discussion

Russian agriculture has undergone significant institutional changes: denationalization, de-collectivization, introduction of holdings, agro-industrial integration, concentration of land and capital. They were the drivers of growth and provided the growth of production volumes, export and efficiency. For centuries, Russia has lived in hunger or lack of food production, but now it is learning to live with its surplus. Relevant in this regard is the question: should the development paradigm be changed? How the current structure meets the requirement of sustainability with its triangle (economy, ecology and social issues of rural areas)?
Issues for Discussion:

Why the theory is at odds with practice in Russia: the growth points in individual companies providing a sharp increase in production have not become the points of development of the territory?
Why, in the face of growth of the added value in agriculture, the proportion of the population living below the poverty line is shifting to rural areas?
Is a different successful placement of production facilities possible: commensurate with the nature’s ability to recycle waste and commensurate with the established settlement of rural residents?
Why the concentration of public support, production and new technologies on individual enterprises limits the prospects for agriculture?
How food affordability is achieved in countries that have no agricultural holdings similar to Russian ones?

Moderator:

Natalia Shagayda, Director, Center for Agricultural and Food Policy, RANEPA

Participants:

Diana Ayala, Minister Plenipotentiary, Counsellor for Agriculture, U.S. Embassy to Russia
Dmitry Butusov, Deputy Chairman for Agriculture, Government of Orel Region
Alexander Merzlov, President, The Most Beautiful Villages of Russia Association
Marina Mityanina, Agriculture and Food Attache, Embassy of Denmark
Sergio Schneider, Professor of Sociology, Rio Grande do Sul University (Brazil)