Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2023, 69(9):366-374 | DOI: 10.17221/217/2023-AGRICECON

The effects of COVID-19 crisis on small family farms: Empirical evidence from Visegrad countriesOriginal Paper

Ivana Blažková ORCID...¹, Veronika Svatošová ORCID...¹, Gabriela Chmelíková ORCID...¹, Vojtěch Tamáš ORCID...¹, Eliška Svobodová ORCID...¹, Libor Grega ORCID...¹, Simona Miškolci ORCID...¹, Jakub Piecuch ORCID...², Apolka Ujj ORCID...³, Daniela Hupková ORCID...⁴, Jacek Puchała ORCID...⁵, István Bazsik ORCID...⁶, Paulina Jancsovszka ORCID...³, Kinga Nagyné Pércsi ORCID...⁷, Ľudmila Dobošová ORCID...⁸

¹ Department of Regional and Business Economics, Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic

² Department of Economics and Food Economy, Faculty of Agriculture and Economics, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Kraków, Poland

³ Department of Agroecology and Organic Farming, Institute of Rural Development and Sustainable Economy, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Gödöllő, Hungary

⁴ Institute of Economics and Management, Faculty of Economics and Management, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Nitra, Slovak Republic

⁵ Department of Statistics and Social Policy, Faculty of Agriculture and Economics, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Kraków, Poland

⁶ Doctoral School of Economics and Regional Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Gödöllő, Hungary

⁷ Department of Agricultural Economics and Policy, Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Gödöllő, Hungary

⁸ Institute of Accounting and Informatics, Faculty of Economics and Management, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Nitra, Slovak Republic

This paper aims to investigate the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on small family farms in Visegrad countries and to provide evidence of how they have responded and coped with the crisis. We conducted our investigation using an exploratory qualitative research design based on 86 semistructured in-depth interviews with owners or responsible managers, and explored the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on different areas of their businesses, such as human resources, supplier-customer relations, production, distribution channels or strategies, price of inputs and outputs and business models. Our findings showed that small family farms have been resilient in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Several negative impacts were identified, such as a decrease in sales due to the closure of accommodation and restaurant services, delays in the supply of inputs, and minor problems with the availability of workers, but those were perceived to be moderate. However, the COVID-19 pandemic created not only difficult challenges but also opportunities for small farms. Based on our findings, three main recommendations regarding the adaptability and resilience of family farms in Visegrad countries have been formulated: i) the importance of a diversification strategy, ii) selling through short supply chains, and iii) digitalisation of agriculture.

Keywords: family farming; multifunctional agriculture; post-COVID recovery; qualitative research; V4 countries

Received: June 27, 2023; Revised: August 4, 2023; Accepted: August 9, 2023; Published: September 22, 2023  Show citation