The former USSR could become self-sufficient in food, but in the medium term will probably remain a net agricultural importer - if it can persuade exporters to extend credit. But Central Eastern European agricultural exports are likely to expand. Central Eastern Europe could become a tougher, more aggressive player in agriculture, principally in the markets for more demanding food products - especially pork, poultry, and fruits and vegetables.

Central and Eastern European countries and the states of the former USSR have embarked on an exhilarating but difficult political and economic transition. Changes in agriculture in Central and Eastern Europe and the former USSR will profoundly affect the individual countries and the region, and alter the world agricultural economy in the twenty-first century. Despite many differences, these countries face a core of common issues as they design and implement agrarian reform. Most of the papers prepared for the 1990 World Bank - National Bank of Hungary conference on the agricultural transition in Central and Eastern Europe and the USSR are presented herein. They provide a rich set of references for understanding the problems of agricultural transition in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, and for evaluating alternative paths open to the governments in the region. The unifying theme of this book is the common dilemmas and options of agricultural transformation in countries that differ in size, resource endowment, level of development, extent of market imperfections, and political conditions.

This title was first published in 2001. By presenting research from a multi disciplinary perspective, this book will serve as an important reference tool for researchers and others interested in the land use issues of Central and Eastern Europe as well as agribusiness leaders seeking potential trading relations with and within these European countries.

ÿThis book explores the interrelated campaigns of agricultural collectivization in the USSR and in the communist dictatorships established in Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe. Despite the profound, long-term societal impact of collectivization, the subject has remained relatively underresearched. The volume combines detailed studies of collectivization in individual Eastern European states with issueoriented comparative perspectives at regional level. Based on novel primary sources, it proposes a reappraisal of the theoretical underpinnings and research agenda of studies on collectivization in Eastern Europe.The contributions provide up-to-date overviews of recent research in the field and promote new approaches to the topic, combining historical comparisons with studies of transnational transfers and entanglements.

The first study in the Western world to compare the relationship between food and politics in the countries of Eastern Europe, this book views the current food revolution as part of the modernization process. Robert Deutsch argues that the communist leaders in the Comecon countries increasingly link political stability and preservation of power to the problem of satisfying consumer demand. He also assesses the various social forces that have brought about the food revolution. The most important is the expanded working class, which is no longer willing to defer consumer demands to a hypothetical communist future. The CMEA countries thus face the dilemma of either gradually liberalizing their economies in order to meet growing consumer demands or resorting to repression. Neither of these options promises a long-term solution for implementing economic policies prescribed by Marxist-Leninist doctrine. Robert Deutsch presents case studies of Hungary, Bulgaria, and the German Democratic Republic as examples of the "relative success" of economic reforms. To a greater or lesser extent, these countries have opted for economic decentralization by liberalizing private ownership and pricing policy and by integrating planning with market-oriented concepts. The author compares this with the economic problems of the Soviet Union, Poland, Romania, and Czechoslovakia. The study is enhanced by an exhaustive bibliography, arranged topically and drawn from the specialized literature in several languages.

This book explores the interrelated campaigns of agricultural collectivization in the USSR and in the communist dictatorships established in Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe. Despite the profound, long-term societal impact of collectivization, the subject has remained relatively underresearched. The volume combines detailed studies of collectivization in individual Eastern European states with issueoriented comparative perspectives at regional level. Based on novel primarysources, it proposes a reappraisal of the theoretical underpinnings and research agenda of studies on collectivization in Eastern Europe.The contributions provide up-to-date overviews of recent research in the field and promote new approaches to the topic, combining historical comparisons with studies of transnational transfers and entanglements.