Abstracts

This paper analyses the resilience and crisis behaviour of female-led family farms in Romania during the global crisis of 2019-2024. Utilizing administrative data from the Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agriculture (APIA), the research employs a quantitative longitudinal analysis of holdings between 10 and 100 ha in two contrasting regions: high-performing Timiș County and economically disadvantaged Vaslui County. The findings reveal divergent demographic trajectories: Timiș represents a mature, consolidating “industrialized continuity” model, while Vaslui exhibits “socio-economic fluidity” through a 50% increase in participation and a younger workforce. Results indicate that these female-led farms acted as critical socio-economic “shock absorbers” during the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 energy crisis, and the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. While the larger farms in Timiș maintained structural stability through eventual existing capital reserves, Vaslui’s model demonstrated resilience through labour-intensive flexibility and youth absorption. The study concludes that differentiated support policies are essential to address regional-specific barriers to generational renewal and market volatility with particular focus on gender issues in agriculture.

Keywords

Woman-led farms, Crisis response, Generational shift

Acknowledgment

We thank the Romanian Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agriculture (APIA) for providing access to the administrative datasets that made this study possible. We also acknowledge the valuable feedback from colleagues in agricultural economics and rural sociology that helped refine our analytical approach.

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