The fourth group of trainees started the Agro Intergeneration Programme

The fourth group of trainees started the Agro Intergeneration programme, an initiative of Banca Transilvania and the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, aimed at developing skills in agribusiness. The nearly 30 participants are from families who are BT agribusiness customers from 14 counties. The bank's contribution for each of the trainees is €1,400.

Agro Intergeneration runs for six months and is organised in modules supported by professors from USAMV Cluj-Napoca. Participants have the opportunity to learn about business administration, financial management, leadership, innovation and marketing in agriculture. The experience is complemented by meetings with farmers invited to the courses and the opportunity to visit farms abroad.

"We see that taking over and continuing family businesses is a challenge for agriculture, but also for other fields, that's why the interest of the participants in Agro Intergeneration, launched by BT and USAMV Cluj-Napoca in 2020, makes us very happy. The programme is the commitment of Banca Transilvania to support agriculture in ways other than financing and consultancy. We support those who support Romania". - says Sorin Ignat, Agribusiness Director, Banca Transilvania.

BT and USAMV have set out through this programme to grow a community ready to contribute to the perpetuation of family farms and family businesses in agriculture. Generational change, by attracting young people into farming, is also one of the objectives of the EU Common Agricultural Policy 2023-2027, and agriculture and rural areas are central to the European Green Pact. More generations in the same business can mean a more modern approach to farming, complementarity, and the opportunity to be, as a family, a role model for the community they are part of.

Almost 45% of farmers in Romania are over 65 years old

The sources of uncertainty about succession in family agribusinesses in Romania are mainly related to mentality, demographic structure and labour migration. According to European Commission data:

• Nearly 45% of farmers in Romania are over 65;
• Romania has the largest number of farmers in the EU: 3.5 million;
• 23% of the Romanian workforce is employed
• 90% of farms in the country are small, with less than 5 hectares;
• 13.5 million hectares is the area of land used in Romania, 57% of the country's total area;
• Less than 5% of Romania's agricultural area is farmed organically - the lowest percentage in the EU.

Banca Transilvania is the largest supporter of Romanian agriculture, with over 40,000 clients and about 20% market share. Its commitment is to contribute to its repositioning through education, financing and contribution to increasing technology and specialisation, to help the transition towards a sustainable and competitive agricultural sector.