The role of small farms in the creation of social capital in rural areas

Abstract

The article presents considerations regarding the role that the owners of “small agricultural farms” and the members of their families play in rural communities. The author takes up the question of the need to precisely define the category of agricultural farms referred to as “small” or as “small producers” and analyzes opinions formulated by representatives of various branches of science on the present and future role of such farms. The main subject of the article is the condition of social capital in the rural areas of Poland, the capital's inclusive or exclusive character, and clearly observable changes that have occurred in the recent years, especially in the attitudes of farmers after the accession of Poland to EU. Basing on the results of a poll conducted by CBOS in 2007 the author formulates a negative answer to the question whether small farms, or more precisely the owners of small farms, constitute a group that distinctly differs in some way from other groups, for example, from the group of farmers who are large producers. In the light of conducted research persons linked to small farms co-create social capital in the same measure as all the remaining farmers and inhabitants of rural areas.