Rural Europe on the move English_E_version_all | Page 77

Herbs, Health and Politics
New opportunities
and new threats
The threats to human-nature
“Increasingly, land is under the control of
non-farmers who are interested in maximising
their profits from natural resources.”
harmony are not a thing of the past,
however. In recent years, the fragility politicians, are buying up vast tracts of this relationship has again become of land to use as investment funds. clear as reckless development and Increasingly, land is under the control decades of political upheaval and
rapid modernisation has taken hold of non-farmers who are interested in change? There is some stability in
on much of rural Romania. Corruption, maximising their profits from natural ‘tradition’. When we hold on to our
illegal logging, and land grabbing resources. Romania’s accession traditional practices of cultivation and
undermine stable development. to the EU opened this land also to our traditional knowledge, we are
Even today, many farmers have not foreign investors, who profit from the better able to look after ourselves
had official ownership of their land comparatively cheap land prices. and each other. We need to think
returned such that, even if they are
with such entities.
What can we learn from these
A study by the Transnational about progress and development
eligible to it, they cannot access Institute in 2017 has shown that beyond the limited frameworks of
EU subsidies. Many of the roughly around 5,3 million hectares of modernisation, industrialisation and
4 million small farmers have very agricultural land belong to foreign globalisation. Here in Transylvania
little or no money for developing or nationals. That is 40% of the total we want to support a rootedness
stabilising their farms. Romanian agricultural area of about and connection with our natural
13,3 million hectares. Small farmers surroundings and value our traditional
with very little capital cannot compete knowledge-holders.
At the same time big investors,
teaming-up with local and national
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