Discussion Papers 2007.
Regionality and/or Locality 187-193. p.

REGIONAL PROBLEMS OF SCATTERED FARMS
IN THE HOMOKHÁTSÁG AREA IN HUNGARY
ANDRÁS DONÁT KOVÁCS
Introduction
The sinking of the groundwater level in the Homokhátság area in the Danube-Tisza
Interfluve and the related negative ecological, economic and social processes result
in one of the most complex and most urgent environmental problems in Hungary.
The conflict of the region is extremely complex. The unfavourable hydrological
changes  did  not  only  cause  the  drying-up  of  the  wells  and  the  desiccation  of  the
lakes but also resulted in the breaking down of the ecological balance of the areas
concerned, the regression of the local economy and the deterioration of the general
living conditions.
It is to be regretted that no solution was found for the comprehensive treatment
of these problems so far. The chief loser of the negative processes taking place in
the region is the special feature of the settlement structure of the Great Plain: the
world of the scattered farms.
The disadvantages of the scattered farms and rural areas and the lagging behind
of the settlements in the Homokhátság area on the national level – reflected by the
socio-economic  development  – further  intensified in  the  past few  years. The sub-
sistence  of  the  local  population  became  unpredictable  and  the  world  of  the  scat-
tered farms got into distress.
The landscape characteristics and values of the scattered farms
– in brief
The  scattered  farms  of  the  Homokhátság  area  in  the  Danube-Tisza  Interfluve,  in
fact, occupy the remnants of the former alluvial fans of the Ancient Danube. The
surface of the area is characterised by sand sheet plains, jointed rows of sand dunes
and their formations divided by erosional-deflational depressions which were for-
merly filled by temporary saline lakes and marshlands.
The  most  substantial  natural  resources  can  be  found  on  the  areas  of  the
Kiskunság  National  Park  established  in  1975.  The  Park  includes  grassy  and  wet
habitats, forests, pusztas, meadows and lawns used for agricultural purposes with a
large number of considerable rare/protected species. The geomorphological forma-

Kovács, András Donát : Regional Problems of Scattered Farms in the Homokhátság Area in Hungary.
In: Regionality and/or Locality. Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2007. 187-193. p.
Discussion Papers, Special

188
ANDRÁS DONÁT KOVÁCS
tions are of outstanding importance, too: sand dune formations, diverse terrain and
soil types and their combinations. Two-thirds of the area of the National Park is a
Biosphere Reserve, and the saline lakes and the Lake Kolon are declared Ramsar
Wetland habitats of international importance.
The cultural values of the area including 104 settlements are also unique (Table
1). The scattered farms themselves represent special values together with the tradi-
tional farming activities including the farming methods maintaining the genome of
the primordial Hungarian domestic animals. The milieu of the scattered farms does
not only make the landscape unique but has a significant role in the conservation of
the  natural  values,  the  functioning  of  the  economy  and  the  retention  of  the  local
community as well.
Table 1
Settlements of Homokhátság and the number of inhabitants on scattered farms
County
Number of settlements
Number of inhabitants on scattered
farms
Bács-Kiskun
61
58,992
Csongrád
22
25,110
Pest
21
15,917
Total
104
100,019
Source: Hungarian Central Statistical Office.
Environmental conflicts – natural environment
Several international and national climatic and hydrographical researches reported
changes in the climate of the Carpathian Basin in the past few years. According to
the Hungarian experts and authorities, it would be an exaggeration to talk about a
semi-desert state but the signs of the land turning into steppes are already definitely
apparent.  As  a  consequence  of  the  durative  dry  periods  of  the  past  decades,  the
character  of  the  pusztas  in  the  Danube-Tisza  Interfluve  really  changed:  the  saline
habitats  started  to  decay  and  there  has  been  no  water  for  years  in  certain  lakes.
Though there is a short rainy period in the beginning of the warm season but there
has been sparsely any precipitation from July for years. Resulting from the longer
and longer dry periods, the sinking of the groundwater level became global accom-
panied  by  nitrification  and  the  gradual  decay  of  the  topsoil.  Certain  reviews  say
that the groundwater level in the region lowered by two or three meters on average
in the past ten years and thus the slow desiccation is perpetual (Figure 1).

Kovács, András Donát : Regional Problems of Scattered Farms in the Homokhátság Area in Hungary.
In: Regionality and/or Locality. Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2007. 187-193. p.
Discussion Papers, Special

190
ANDRÁS DONÁT KOVÁCS
Environmental conflicts – built environment
It may be generally established with respect to the built environment of the settle-
ments  of  the  area  and  the  buildings  of  the  world  of  scattered  farms  that  they  are
rather miscellaneous, many of them are in a deteriorated and dilapidated state. Sta-
tistics  say  that  55.6%  of  the  approximately  52  thousand  dwelling-houses  in  the
outskirts  in  the  Homokhátság  were  built  before  1945,  another  17.6%  in  the  fol-
lowing one and a half decade and only hardly more than one-quarter between 1960
and 2001. Two-fifths of the külterületi houses (40.3%) are below 60 m2 with one or
two rooms. Almost 25% of the registered dwelling stocks in the outskirts are either
temporarily inhabited or uninhabited. Based on the data of the census in 2001, wa-
ter  supply  in  the  households  is  available  only  in  less  than  half  of  the  dwelling-
houses in the peripheries (45.5%) and only one-third of them (33.3%) are equipped
with flush toilets. Where the closet is available there are other basic conveniences,
as well; where there is no closet, however, it is not only a technical-infrastructural
deficiency but there are several other related social problems, too. Approximately
10–12%  of  the  farms  have  no  electricity  supplies  and  3–4%  of  the  permanently
habited  farms  do  not  have  electricity.  The  ratio  of  houses  in  the  peripheries  con-
nected  to  the  sewerage  network  is  also  very  low.  Only  1378  of  the  houses  in  the
peripheries  are  equipped  with  public  sewers.  Most  of  these  can  be  found  in  the
environs  of Kecskemét,  Kiskunfélegyháza  and other middle-sized  towns and they
primarily function as homes.2
Chief conflicts of the social environment
The outskirts of the scattered farms involved in the research are perhaps the most
typical  with  respect  to  the  accumulated  disadvantageous  peripheral  situation,  the
peculiarities  of  poverty  and  the  characteristics  of  environmental  degradation.  Al-
though, there are sparsely some sustainable farms and scattered settlement parts in
the  peripheries  functioning  in  a  relative  harmony  with  their  environment,  which
created long-term and favourable, conditions for living but on the whole more and
more conflict factors appear. The farm zones bear most of the determining marks
of  the  peripheral  character.  The  farm  areas  characterised  by  low  economic  com-
petitiveness, high unemployment rate and great migration loss, institutional supply
below the average and population living on declining living standard roughly coin-
cide  with  the  districts  of  settlements  having  less  developed  environmental  infra-
structure.
The  peripheral  situation  conveys  real  problems:  chronic  shortage  of  capital,
acute employment crisis, social troubles. Most of the farms are located in microre-

2CSO database on peripheries.

Kovács, András Donát : Regional Problems of Scattered Farms in the Homokhátság Area in Hungary.
In: Regionality and/or Locality. Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2007. 187-193. p.
Discussion Papers, Special
REGIONAL PROBLEMS OF SCATTERED FARMS IN THE HOMOKHÁTSÁG…
19
1
gions  with  a  foredoomed  “marginal  situation”  lagging  behind  in  the  economic
competition accompanied by aged inhabitants, depopulation, decline in the public
standards  of  living  and  drastic  deterioration  of  the  state  of  the  natural  and  built
environment. The regional disparities and the accumulation of the disadvantageous
situation  might  become  stable  and  the  farm  settlements  and the farms  themselves
will be less and less able to move from their current state.
Ways out
The  scattered  farms  in  the  Homokhátság  area  are  characterised  by  anachronistic
and imperfectly constructed infrastructure, low economic competitive power, high
unemployment  rate,  great  migration  loss,  institutional  supply  below  the  average,
and  consequently  declining  living  standards.  Unfortunately,  there  are  plenty  of
signs supporting that the socio-economic processes do not facilitate the closing-up
of  the  Homokhátság  area  to  the  more  developed  regions.  If  the  existing  regional
differences continue growing then the areas in question may loose their population.
This process may have an influence on the entire country since the termination of
the special landscape sustaining, economic and cultural functions characterising the
scattered settlements may result in a regional environmental crisis. The support for
the specific Hungarian settlement form and the help for the communities living in
the outskirts are important for the entire society since those who live on the farms
work  on  extensive  areas  and  manage  the  environment.  The  conservation  of  the
scattered farms in the Homokhátság, therefore, is a significant national task and the
sustaining of the traditional farming methods and the peculiar landscape values are
“vital matters” for thousands of families on the area of the Great Plain.
For the sake of the liquidation of the current situation and the safekeeping of the
farms in the future, a new light must be thrown upon the changes affecting the con-
ditions of the scattered farms. The environmental conflicts of the farms cannot be
studied  exclusively  in  the classic  system  of  environmental  protection  focusing  on
infrastructure.  The  rehabilitation  of  the  scattered  farms  on  the  Great  Plain  –  fol-
lowing  modern  European  style  integrated  rural  development  solutions  –  requires
joint measures. The farms are the structural and functional components of the land-
scapes  and  settlement  environmental  complex  systems  whose  sustainability  is  the
function of several factors.
The  ecological  reconstruction  of  the  area  has  become  compelling  due  to  the
earlier developed water management problems and the still weltering deterioration
of state. In addition to the further study of the liable causes and the role of the hu-
man interventions, immediate action is needed to change the land use structure, to
increase water retrenchment, and to provide more intensive support for the endeav-
ours  to  present  water  supply.  This  requires  incessant  analysis,  monitoring  and

Kovács, András Donát : Regional Problems of Scattered Farms in the Homokhátság Area in Hungary.
In: Regionality and/or Locality. Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2007. 187-193. p.
Discussion Papers, Special

192
ANDRÁS DONÁT KOVÁCS
Figure 2
The most important factors of sustainability of Homokhátság from local
and global aspects

Source: Edited by the author.

Kovács, András Donát : Regional Problems of Scattered Farms in the Homokhátság Area in Hungary.
In: Regionality and/or Locality. Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2007. 187-193. p.
Discussion Papers, Special
REGIONAL PROBLEMS OF SCATTERED FARMS IN THE HOMOKHÁTSÁG…
19
3
management of all human active components affecting the state of the water sup-
ply. When searching for the environmental-strategic breakouts, the comprehensive
modernisation of the technical infrastructure, the development of the public light-
ing, road network in the peripheries, gas, telephone and sewage networks and the
management of the communal waste must be given priority.
The  settlements  of  the  area  need  a  joint  long-term  environmental,  infrastruc-
tural, agricultural and sylvicultural strategy for the more balanced development and
the intensification of the environmental security. Thus, another precondition for the
more effective action is the local and regional co-operation through which the set-
tlements (taking into consideration the capabilities and the limits) “may share” the
environmental management duties. The environment-conform solutions of the ag-
riculture  may  become  rewarding  within  the  framework  of  the  co-operations.  Be-
sides the above listed developments, of course, a modern programme with a social
approach is also needed. The self-governments must join the EU and national pro-
grammes (e.g. LEADER) and they should fully exploit the supports. This necessi-
tates  the  improvement  of  the  standard  of  the  preparedness  and  attainments  of  the
inhabitants  and  self-governments.  The  environmental-conscious  behaviour  on  an
improving social level could form the basis of the local and regional environmental
culture.
The authors assume that the region – as it had been outlined above – can only
proceed towards sustainability through the closing-up of the scattered farms. Aus-
picious  living  conditions  and  a  live  economy  could  be  created  for  the  inhabitants
partly  by  relying  on  the  natural  potentials,  traditions  and  local  knowledge  and
partly by exploiting the EU support systems through the modernisation of the inner
resources of the Danube-Tisza Interfluve. This calls for the support of the full con-
struction  of  the  environmental infrastructures, the spread  of the  environment-con-
form  solutions  in  the  agriculture,  the  harmonisation  of  nature  conservation  and
tourism and the creation of an environment-conscious behaviour on all levels.
The  conservation  of  the  landscape  values  and  the  development  of  the  settle-
ments, the support of the agricultural production fitting the supporting-ability of the
landscape and the creation of the related investment and service activities is a token
of the future for the scattered farms and the entire area.
References
Farkas, J. Zs.–Kovács A. D. 2006: A homokhátsági tanyás térségek vizsgálata [Research of scattered
farms of the Homokhátság area] Gazdálkodás. 50. 1. 72–80. p.
Pálfai, I.–Bogota, T.–Sebesvári, J. 2003: Vízháztartási változások a Duna–Tisza közi Homokhátságon
[Hidrological  changes  in  Danube–Tisza  Interfluve].  In  Magyar  Hidrológiai  Társaság  XXI.
Országos Vándorgyőlés CD, Szolnok.
http://www.alfoldinfo.hu/tanyakutatas/.