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Poland Postcommunist Restructuring
Because of the predominance of private farms in
communist
Poland, privatization of agriculture was not a major
necessity
during the reform period, as it was in the other
postcommunist
countries. Excessively large state farms were to be split
into
more efficient units and sold; some state farms would be
converted into modern agrobusinesses operating as limited
stock
companies; and a certain number were to be retained as
state
experimental farms. In all cases, however, rapid
modernization
and improvement in agrotechnology were urgent
requirements.
The streamlining of agriculture faced serious obstacles
in
the early 1990s, notably because of the existing agrarian
structure. Private farm size had to increase to provide
farmers a
satisfactory level of income and investment. Drastic
reduction in
the agricultural labor force also was needed. Because
unemployment outside agriculture rose in 1991 and 1992,
however,
only gradual reductions were possible. A satisfactory
social
safety net and retraining programs for displaced
agricultural
workers were prerequisites for further reductions in
labor.
Experts estimated that unemployment on former state farms
would
reach 70 to 80 percent, meaning about 400,000 lost jobs,
once the
farms were privatized and streamlined.
Considerable investment is needed to provide adequate
agricultural infrastructure, including road improvement,
telecommunications, water supply, housing, and amenities.
Especially important is establishment of a well-developed,
competitive network of suppliers of materials and
equipment
necessary for modern agricultural production. Equally
necessary
are commercial firms to purchase agricultural products and
provide transportation and storage facilities. In
particular,
expansion and modernization of the food-processing
industry are
necessary to strengthen and stabilize demand for
agricultural
products. The first postcommunist governments prepared
agricultural modernization programs, and some financial
help was
obtained from the World Bank and Western governments for
this
purpose. Modernization was expected to require several
decades,
however.
By 1992 nearly all the 3,000 remaining state farms had
substantial unpaid bank loans and other liabilities. For
this
reason, and because the government had not devised usable
privatization plans at that point, the Farm Ownership
Agency of
the State Treasury was authorized to take over all the
state
farms in 1992. The agency was authorized to lease state
farm
lands to either Polish or foreign renters, as a temporary
measure
to ensure continued productivity.
Data as of October 1992
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