Tuyara Gavrilyeva (p), Varvara Parilova

Katalin Kovács

In this paper, we analyze relationships between the geographical features of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) and the accessibility and availability of modern and traditional food. We discuss the results of field research carried out within the RISE project. RISE (Climate change Resilience of Indigenous Socio-Ecological systems) is a joint international project that aims at filling this knowledge gap by understanding the socioeconomic and nutritional contributions of traditional food systems and the risks from future climate and environmental changes to promote sustainable development and adaptation.
The purpose of the study is to analyze the accessibility and availability of local and imported foodstuff to residents of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) depending on the transport accessibility of settlements.
Objectives of the study: to characterize the local diet (the share of local and imported foodstuff); to study\explain disparities in food prices; to assess the accessibility and availability of local and imported food, depending on the isolation and transport accessibility of settlements.

Katalin Kovács (p), Eszter Hamza, Gábor Király, Bálint Koós, Katalin Rácz, Monika Mária Váradi

Tuyara Gavrilyeva

Based on the results of an H2020 research update (RELOCAL- Grant Agreement 727097) and an ongoing NKFIH project (132975), the paper discusses the lived experience of climate change and reactions / defence strategies in the face of it. The two projects encompassed a representative survey on adaptation to climate change and qualitative research in four agricultural areas of intensive fruit, vine or vegetable production situated in North and Central Hungary, the Southern Great Plain and Southern Transdanubia (the Mátra vine-growing area, the Nagykőrös district, Szentes and its close vicinity and the Kisvejke fruit-growing area respectively). Our paper presents the first results of the qualitative elements of this ongoing research.
All sites have been highly affected by climate change but to different degrees, depending on the topology of the area (plain, hilly), the dominant product (vegetables, fruit, vines) and technology (open field or under plastic or glass). Producers responded within their budgetary resources to the challenges of increased pest infestation, heatwaves and draughts during the summer period, and repeated frosts in the spring. Willingness and ability to adapt have depended on affordability of course but also on a number of other factors. These included farm size, age of the farmer and family labour, whether or not new technologies countering climate change were subsidised by the CAP or other bodies, success or failure of previous experiments/investments, and knowledge / knowhow transmission. The latter could be random and informal as well as organised and formal, provided, for example, through Producer Organisations (PO-s). (Such organisations operated in two of our research sites.)
Research results so far indicate that producers have reached a stage where ceasing intensive fruit or vegetable farming is sporadic and not directly related to climatic conditions. Most farmers seem to be determined to face climate change and defend their farms from its impacts. Vulnerability, however, is growing, financial reserves are being exhausted, and pressure towards a radical break with current farming patterns is increasing. These circumstances might accelerate the probable reshaping of the local agricultural profile, and, in a broader sense, push towards a new round of social and economic restructuring in the Hungarian countryside.