Reflections on the concept and process of deagrarization of the Polish countryside

The experience gathered during the presentation of the results of the project "Monitoring the development of rural areas" has shown that the concept of "deagrarization" is not properly understood. The article explains that the process of decreasing the share of agriculture in generating GDP, as well as in providing work and income to the rural population is of a universal nature. Its consequence is the progressive social division of labor, increased prosperity, etc. It can be achieved through the migration of surplus population (over the demand of the countryside for their work) to cities or through the creation of jobs outside agriculture in the countryside (or transferring these jobs from cities to the countryside). Both of these extreme concepts have certain advantages, but they also generate specific costs. In reality, new, non-agricultural jobs are created in the countryside, as well as migrations from the countryside to the cities. The proportion of forms in which the deagrarization process is implemented depends on local conditions. The process of socio-economic deagrarization of the countryside should not be combined with the assessment of the importance of agriculture in the economy when it is said that it provides goods needed to meet basic needs. The criterion for assessing the deagrarianization process should not be combined with assessments of agriculture on a macro scale when the analysis concerns food self-sufficiency. Deagrarianization is linked to the category of labor productivity in agriculture, not the importance of agriculture as a supplier of necessary goods.