Opportunities and challenges for managers within the East-European agriculture sector: Case study on Romania

Agriculture has always been essential to the development of human society, providing the food necessary for human survival. For the Romanian economy, agriculture is a very important sector in terms of the number of enterprises involved and the agricultural area used, but also because of the workforce employed in the sector. However, Romanian agriculture is a vulnerable sector, which has had to face several unfavourable events in recent years. The COVID-19 pandemic, the energy crisis, the conflict in Ukraine, and the lack of agricultural inputs have brought many risks for Romanian farmers in 2023, such as higher food prices and more expensive electricity for consumers. This paper aims to identify the perceptions of the managers regarding the outcomes of the recent events (the COVID-19 pandemic, the energy crisis, the conflict in Ukraine) on the future potential of agriculture in Romania and to determine their perceptions about the impact of other issues with which agricultural companies had to deal with in recent years (climate change, draught, inflation, governmental measures). Other goals of the paper were to find out the managers’ plans and prospects to potentially introduce or use new technologies and digitization within their own companies and uncover their assessments regarding the sector’s future within the European and international context. To identify these perspectives, qualitative research was carried out through in-depth interviews with respondents holding leadership positions within 16 Romanian agricultural companies. The data was analyzed in order to identify similarities and discrepancies within their statements and find corroborative ideas that could help improve the sector. The results of the paper showed how the COVID-19 pandemic and the unstable geo-political context along with other issues increased production costs, but favored digitization and technology. In the past years, because different events changed the European and Romanian economy, a lot of academic research has revolved around the areas of health, energy and technology. Therefore, the study brings elements of originality because of the theme and the approach, which provide valuable insights not only for Romania but for other countries in the region as well.