Globalization, a term often used to refer to the economic integration of national economies into an international economy through trade, foreign direct investment, capital flows, migration, and the spread of technology, is not limited to trade in manufacturing industries. Trade in agricultural and agro processed industrial products with partners in other countries constitute part of globalization; hence offers enormous opportunities for rural and agro-entrepreneurs to extend their markets. There is an abundance of literature of success stories that show that riding on the wings of Information and Communication Technologies, rural agriculture and agro-based industries supply a huge variety of products to the global market,. This development in countries such as The Netherlands, South Korea, U.K, Italy and Sweden has lead to trade relationships between farmers, food processors, intermediates and retailers, and finally consumers in-country as well as across the globe.
Drawing on the experiences of these successful cases, this study analyses the Bulgarian rural economy and proposes the development of e-agriculture in Bulgaria. The aim of such a policy, hence this study, is to boost the returns of the Bulgarian rural economy and for it to serve as an appropriate response to the growing market pressure due to consumers in the global market switching to and performing online transactions with their suppliers instead of the traditional methods of trade relationships.
A four phase development framework has been proposed by the study for the realization of an optimally performing e-agricultural system. First and foremost the designers of the e-agricultural platform should focus on making it represent a dynamic means of exchanging information on crop management among famers and between farmers and agricultural extension officers. Secondly, it should be enhanced to support online transactions (initially placing orders and making payments through an escrow mechanism before delivery is effected) and meeting trade offers. Thirdly, it should be developed to support realtime online orders and financial transactions, through interfacing with the banking system. Finally, the system should be developed into an integrated supply chain system to support interaction between farms and agroprocessing industries and their suppliers by way of exchanges leading to the supply of inputs; and interactions between them and intermediaries such as warehouses and retailers, as well as interactions between them and the ultimate consumers of their products.
In terms of the contribution of this study, it is envisaged that the e-agriculture infra-structure will enable the rural industries to extend their market reach, and will reduce the cost of trading for and with rural industries. That kind of development would also serve as an incentive to attract new agro-businesses into rural communities, as they can use the enhanced communication channels to reach out to the rest of the world, whilst enjoying a relatively low production cost, due to their proximity to the source of raw materials.
세계화는 외부 시장만을 뜻하지 않는다. 농산물 및 식품 거래도 세계화의 일부라 볼 수 있다. 세계화에 ICT 기술들을 접목할 때 결과적으로 이 들은 농부, 식품 제조업자, 중개업자, 소매업자, 그리고 최종소비자 등 시장 참여자의 거래 형태에 새로운 변화를 가져올 것이다. 몇몇의 실례들은 전자상거래가 농림 사업에 어떠한 영향을 주었는지 보여준다. 시장 압력이 심해지고 소비자들이 거래하는데 온라인 서비스를 이용하면서 인터넷 거래 플랫폼들이 (예를 들어 한국, 영국, 이탈리아, 스웨덴, 그리고 폴란드) 개발되었다.
이런 플랫폼들은 정보를 교환하고 제안들을 만족시키는 역할을 한다. 온라인 금융 거래들을 통해 이들은 더욱 진보할 것이다. 농업지역에서 기반구조 광대역을 개발되면 인터넷 플랫폼을 이용하는 농부들과 식품 제조업자들은 이들의 추진 동력이 될 것이다. 모든 유럽의 농업 지역 전자상거래 프로젝트에서 광대역 접근은 거래 비용을 줄이는데 많은 기여를 할 것이며 통신 채널과 함께 진행되는 신사업에 긍정적인 영향을 미칠 것이다. 이를 통해 불가리아의 농업 지역에 ICT프로젝트를 진행하는데 국가 정책이 얼마나 중요한지 이해할 수 있을 것이다.
EU-27 농업 지역 개발 전략 저자는 농업 지역에서의 전자상거래 활동이 주는 혜택을 관찰하였고 이는 농산물과 비농산물 회사 사이로 퍼져나갔다. 왜냐하면 케이스 연구를 통해 소규모 회사도 혁신적인 좋은 아이디어가 있다면 적은 투자와 함께 성장할 수 있다는 것을 깨달았기 때문이다.
