Dilemmas in agricultural and rural development in Hungary: The EU accession partnership and the SAPARD programme

Hungarian agriculture experienced a particularly difficult period in the 19 90s. In addition to problems related to changes in proprietorship, difficul ties emerged in the field of production, foreign trade and the institutiona l system. The difficulties in agriculture also stimulated social tensions a nd further regional disparities to the disadvantage of agricultural areas. The transitional period has coincided with the EU accession negotiations an d preparations for enlargement. After a brief discussion of the general sit uation and dilemmas in Hungarian agriculture, the paper seeks to summarize the difficulties of the agricultural sector in detail, as revealed during S APARD (Special Accession Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development) p rogramming at the micro-regional scale in two study areas.