VÝVOJ VENKOVA V REGIONU WALLONIA (BELGIE). AKADEMICKÁ STUDIE

RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN WALLONIA (BELGIUM)

ACADEMIC POINT OF VIEW

Vývoj venkova v regionu Wallonia (Belgie). Akademická studie

J.J. Claustriaux (1) and P. Lebailly (2)

(1) Faculté universitaire des Sciences agronomiques

Unité de Statistique et Informatique

Avenue de la Faculté d'Agronomie, 8

B-5030 Gembloux (Belgique)

tel : +32.81.62.25.12

fax : +32.81.61.25.18

E-mail : claustriaux.jj@fsagx.ac.be

(2) Faculté universitaire des Sciences agronomiques

Unité d'Economie générale

Passage des Déportés, 2

B-5030 Gembloux (Belgique)

tel : +32.81.62.23.61

fax : +32.81.61.59.55

E-mail : lebailly.p@fsagx.ac.be

Summary:

More and more, european universities will be involved in research topics concerning rural development. Common Agricultural Policy is modified and concerns specific area where the support of european funds will be focus.

In Wallonia, we have a large experience of this kind of policy started in 1981 with Integrated Development Program. The main goal of this paper is to present some characteristics of Wallonia and some research topics initiated by Universities.

Anotace:

Zapojení evropských univerzit a jejich výzkumných projektů o vývoji venkova stále nabývá na významu. Společná agrární politika upravuje a zabývá se specifickými oblastmi, které jsou podporovány prostřednictvím evropských fondů.

Wallonia je jedním z regionů, kde se tato politika uplatňuje již od roku 1981 společně s programem integrovaného vývoje Integrated Development Program a kde bylo dosaženo mnoho zkušeností. Hlavním cílem této studie je uvedení některých charakteristik vývoje venkova v regionu Wallonia a dalších výzkumných projektů iniciovaných univerzitami.

Key words

Rural development, Belgian Walloon region, Agricultural University.

Klíčová slova:

vývoj venkova, region Wallonia (Belgie), zemědělská univerzita

Wallonia presentation

On 23rd April 1993, Belgium became a Federal State. The country located at the heart of Europe consists of three regions: the Walloon Region, the Flemish Region and the Brussels-Capital Region.

The Walloon Region has its own government and exercices full control over areas which have been transferred to it from the national State. These areas include for example: economic and employment policy, tourism, applied scientific research, housing, town and country planning, environment and agriculture.

With an area of 16,844 km2, Wallonia occupies more than one-half of Belgium. It is relatively densely populated with 3,300,000 inhabitants. With its rich soil and mineral deposit, Wallonia's prosperity was for centuries based on its natural ressources like water, forests, iron and coal, quarries and agriculture. More details on Wallonian agriculture characteristics are mentionned in appendix.

While these traditional sectors have remained the most important parts of the regional industry in terms of the absolute numbers of jobs, Wallonia has nevertheless resolutely turned its attention towards state-of-the-art technologies. A burgeoning number of small and medium-sized companies have risen to this challenge, and their efforts are backed up daily by the public authorities.

In the Ličge and Charleroi basins, iron and steel making, metal, mechanical and electrical constructions, chemistry and glassmaking constituted the historical bases of prosperity. After having been compelled to undergo profound reorganizations, the sectors have retooled with highly sophisticated computer and robotic equipment. They have diversified and have once again become profitable. In so doing, they have enabled new activities centred on fine technology products to develop. In this case, the university-business cooperation takes a large place in the success.

Another interesting example is that of Louvain-la -Neuve, which has transformed the suburbain into a veritable breeding ground for companies, especially in the biomedical and pharmaceutical fields. A number of major international groups have also chosen to install their research centres around.

In the suburbs of Namur, the Capital of Walloon Region, this phenomena of attraction will continue, specially in the vegetal and agro-food biotechnologies sectors, thanks to the creation of a scientific park linked to university faculties in Namur and the Agricultural Science Faculty of Gembloux.

Agricultural activities are an essential component in rural economic but they cannot by oneself assure sustainibility and equilibrated development. In this context, it's necessary to develop others complementary or alternatif activities to stop rural exodus.

Today, european supports in the topic of rural development will be managed around nine European Union regulations: one for structural actions at regional level, four specific regulations included in the target 5a, three regulations for additional measures of the Common Agricultural Policy reform and the last one for forestry. In 2000, these texts will be merged in only one who will manage all the measures concerning rural development and financing by European Union.

Taken into consideration the actual situation, the new system will be simplified and will assure more cohesion mainly across programs defined by States at national or regional level. In this context, the formulation of new programs based on the evaluation of activities developped since more than 20 years is a big challenge for all the institutions and organisations linked with rural problematics. Of course, the agronomic universities must be involved in the definition of development's strategies.

Moreover, reform of the common agricultural policy is moving towards cut-backs in farming income support by way of market price policy. Adjusted, better aimed direct help will be set up in order to compensate the fall in farmers incomes. In this context, agricultural policy cannot be dissociated from regional policy which aims at economic and social cohesion between the various regions of the European Union. The development of rural areas represents one of its prior aims. The placing of direct income support for those receiving the minimum wage can therefore play a part in helping some categories of farmers working in underprivilege areas or confronted with difficulties.

One of the main problems in establishing a regional policy of direct income support for farmers lies in deciding which areas should be taken into consideration.The object of research carried out by universities is precisely to suggest criteria which are likely to orientate the eligibility of rural areas within the framework of actions supporting structural policy and to analyze the effects of choices taken.

Agricultural University evolution

Belgian has a complex organization. Soon, the public loans to finance the universities come from a structure founded on the language and called Community. We can consider that Walloon Region and Brussels-Capital Region build the French Community.

Inside this French Community, three institutions are devoted to the domains of Agricultural Sciences or Chemistry and Bio-industries : Free University of Brussels, Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve and, the oldest, the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences of Gembloux.

In 1997, about 61,000 students were in University and, only about 3.4 %, in the domains named above to lead the degree of "ingénieur" (Msc Level).

Less and less, the research activities are devoted to specific animal or vegetable productions. More and more, for the agronomists, the work is limited and regards to the biosphere's management, as biodiversity and rural development including the integration of manufacturies. More and more also, all the activities are private. We can think an evolution in the water management and in the pollution management. For the chemists, there is an increase of work with agro-food industries, but also with chemical and pharmaceutical industries.

University european cooperation

It is dangerous to be a diviner. But, we think that the university will be more and more close of the industry, with a risk to find less and less founds for fundamental research.

There will be a dilemn between the constraints to developt locally university with specific and well identified domain of competence and the size of each european university for which the number of students would be estimated of about 60,000 students.

For the scientific activities of University, we have the feeling that we can find money to travel and to discuss, but not to build something together if we are too small and if we have some idea outside pre-defined thema.

In the topic of rural development, the creation of a network between Agricultural Universities can be profitable for all the partners. By example, our large experience in the definition of criteria linked with difficulties in rural areas can be transpose more efficiency for each new candidate for adhesion to European Union.

In an another point of view, we demonstrated the role of universities in small and medium enterprises creation, specially in specific sector like biomedical, biotechnological and food industries subsectors. Our experience in this case can be also profitable for the eastern countries.

Conclusion

In Europe, to product to product, even if we can do that, it is the end. Always, the production must be integrated inside the rural development with and very well defined objective of finality of the product and a permanent idea of naught waste.

The profit of this challenge is long, difficult, international and often unknown. So, the cooperation of Universities working together in the same direction is a constraint to the success of this enterprise for the best of young generations of people.

References

1. P.A. Barthélemy (1997). Evolution des indicateurs de ruralité de communes wallonnes entre 1988 et 1994. Gembloux, Faculté universitaire des Sciences agronomiques, 80 p.

2. P. Burny, P. Lebailly (1990). "Less favoured agricultural areas and rural areas eligible to the target 5b - the case of Belgium". VIth European Association of Agricultural Economists Congress. The Hague, poster session D2.

3. J.J. Claustriaux (1987). "Agriculture et Recherche". In : L'agriculture au passé et au présent : XIXe et XXe sicčcles. La Louvičre, Ecomusée régional du Centre, 126-130.

4. J.J. Claustriaux, P. Ramlot (1989). "Développement de l'informatique dans l'agriculture wallonne". Gembloux, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, 114 p.

5. J.J. Claustriaux (1994). "Farmsoft 94 - International Agricultural Software Catalogue". Lisbonne, NORMA, 202 p.

6. M. Foguenne (1994). "Classification des communes wallonnes selon leur ruralité". Gembloux, Faculté des Sciences agronomiques, 93 p.

7. M. Foguenne, P. Lebailly (1993). "Les paiements directs dans les politiques agricole et régionale : le cas des régions défavorisées en Belgique". Proceedings of the 30th EAAE - Seminar "direct Payments". Château d'Oex, 129-143.

8. P. Lebailly, P. Burny (1996). "L'état de l'agriculture en Wallonie". Conseil supérieur wallon de l'Agriculture, de l'Agro-alimentarie et de l'Alimentation, 243 p.

9. X (1997). "Recensements agricoles et horticoles au 15 mai". Bruxelles, Institut National de Statistique.

Appendix : Wallonian Agriculture in Numbers (1996; 40 bef ~ 1 euro)

Production factors

Used Agricultural Area 749,326 ha

Capital per farm 22,667,000 bef

Capital per Working Unit 14,652,000 bef

Capital per ha 460,000 bef

Capital per 100 BEF of gross production 514 bef

Investment of the year, per farm 546,000 bef

Loans of the year, per farm 732,000 bef

Labour force 37,108

- of which full-time 23,851

Area/labour force 20.19 ha

The farms

Total number 23,652

of which : - full-time farmers 15,810

- full-time horticultural producers 346

- part-time producers 7,078

Mean area (all farms) 31.68 ha

Mean area (full-time farms) 43.17 ha

Cattle breeders 18,323

Dairy farms 8,610

Farms with suckling cows 11,479

Pig farms 1,529

Minimum vital area 50 ha

Agricultural Production

Vegetal Production

Winter wheat 124,578 ha

Winter barley 31,062 ha

Sugarbeet 62,242 ha

Meadows 375,554 ha

Corn for silage 53,351 ha

Potato 20,744 ha

Open air vegetables 7,572 ha

Animal Production

Head of cattle 1,538,838 heads

Dairy cows 296,708 heads

Suckling cows 302,876 heads

Pigs 272,187 heads

Chicken 1,099,897 heads

Laying hen 404,877 heads

Sheep 56,844 heads

Prices and price indexes (base 1990 = 100)

Wheat for bread 4.84 bef/kg

Barley 4.66 bef/kg

High quality bulls 92.51 bef/kg on foot

Milk 11.40 bef/liter

Received prices index 92.6

Paid prices index 106.2

Received prices index / Paid prices index 87.2

Agricultural income (microeconomic point of view)

Total product per ha 89,607 bef

Total costs per ha 109,432 bef

Income per working unit 699,186 bef

Income per ha 21,975 bef

Agricultural income / non-agricultural income 70.3 %

Macroeconomic data

Value of agricultural and hotricultural production 60.3 billion bef

of which : - animal production 60.7 %

- general crops 30.2 %

- horticulture 9.1 %

Intermediary consumption 31.7 billion bef

Value added 27.5 billion bef

Agricultural income / non agricultural income (Belgium) 68.5

Evolution of the area of the main crops (hectares)

Set-aside (hectares)

Fallow 10,389

Non food production 2,679

Other 327

Total 13,395