The Romanian Farmers’ Club (CFRO) brought together key players from the agribusiness sector on 8 October 2026 in Craiova (south-west). Titled ‘AGRI4FUTURE’, the regional Conference dedicated to the Oltenia region addressed the sector’s most pressing issues, and discussed concrete solutions regarding the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), new financial instruments and the need for digitalisation.The conference brought together farmers, representatives of authorities, and experts from the financial, banking and academic sectors, transforming Craiova into the centre of national debates on the future of Romania’s food security, in an agricultural year severely affected by cost pressures and extreme soil drought.
Warning from Brussels: CAP budget and Pillar 2 under threat
One of the most worrying messages came from Achim Irimescu, the CFRO’s representative in Brussels. According to him, the European Commission’s proposal for the 2028–2034 financial period envisages a drastic reduction of the share the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) holds in the EU budget.
Furthermore, the proposal in its current form provides for the abolition of Pillar 2, dedicated to rural development. For Romania, this change would mean an allocation of just 16.57 billion euros, approximately 5 billion euros less than the current budget.
Oltenia, the country’s most vulnerable agricultural region
South-West Oltenia, an important agricultural region, is in urgent need of recovery strategies. A detailed analysis presented by Prof. Gavril Ștefan, PhD, from the University of Life Sciences in Iași has shown that farms in this area have the lowest resilience index in the country: 3.78 out of 10 (compared to a national average of 5.85).
To save agriculture in the region, experts have identified clear priorities: production stability, ensuring access to water sources, expanding digitalisation and facilitating access to specialized consultancy.
New instruments for financing and managing climate risks
Lack of capital and climate risk dominated discussions on financing. The Investment and Development Bank has announced a new guarantee scheme that will cover up to 70% of investment loans and 50% of working capital loans, with generous repayment terms of up to 20 years for land purchases.
Meanwhile, the partnership between Agricover and BCR bank will offer farmers long-term co-financing schemes, streamlined through a single set of documents.
With regard to insurance, the need to create a national risk management system covering drought was emphasised. The good news is the resumption of the 50% reimbursement of insurance premiums for the 2026–2027 agricultural year. Currently, the level of coverage remains very low nationwide: only 2.5 million hectares are insured, out of a total of 8.2 million ha arable land.
30 million euros for digitalisation and the protection of ‘Romanian Products’
To boost competitiveness, the CFRO has secured funding for a major European project, worth nearly 30 million euros, which will train 1,000 farm digitalisation managers. Furthermore, graduates of this postgraduate programme will receive additional salary support for one year. The Club has also announced the development of an integrated system dedicated to the traceability of “Romanian produce, from farm to shelf”, a project due to be officially launched at the national conference.
CFRO leaders: drought, political instability are the main challenges
The situation on the ground is described in no uncertain terms by the farmers’ leaders: “We are going through a very difficult period for Romanian agriculture. We have been confronted with an extreme soil drought for over half a year, and the political instability has lasted just as long. Agriculture […] is the science of the land, not a template that we can apply in any year and in any area”, said Alexander Degianski, President of the Romanian Farmers’ Club.
In the same constructive spirit, Florian Ciolacu, Executive Director of the CFRO, emphasised the importance of dialogue with the authorities: “Farmers’ organisations should not get involved in politics. They should be partners to decision-makers, and the arguments we put forward must be taken into account. Nobody understands the sector’s problems better than farmers, and at our conferences we do not just raise problems, but also propose solutions.”
The conclusions and resolutions adopted in Craiova, alongside those from the other regions, will be collated and debated at the large AGRI4FUTURE National Conference, scheduled for 5 November 2026 in Bucharest.
More information
For more information, you can reach out to the Netherlands Agricultural Network in Romania via: bkr-lvvn@minbuza.nl