These figures reflect change recorded live by pollsters in an intermission of their usual metric tasks that will keep them increasingly busy during the pre-election period that is already rolling. At the same time, people eyeing an agrarian life would really like to hear some real policy talk coming out from political parties that will ask for their vote in a month or so. Most probably, most of these people, when they hit the fields at their home village or in fields rented by the state, they will bring along their laptop and some degree of specialty of doing business; agro-business or other. This means that they will not be the usual crowd local politicians used to meet in provincial Greece. They have gone through an awakening process in the last couple of years and are about to rely on their personal efforts to escape the crisis and pursue a new level of work-life balance that could prove more productive and sustainable in terms of its finances.

The agrarian economy is a key driving force for Greece to move forward; its obvious strong points are climate conditions, the purity of the Greek land, as well as taste and history associated with the ‘Greekness’ of products. According to a study by the Agricultural University of Athens on Greek agriculture, at the top of the list of opportunities are: first, European preference for traditional products: marketing of PDO’s Greek products (Protected Designation of Origin), second, development of functional food: Greeks have the technological knowledge to develop such products; third, a tendency to Mediterranean diet: chance to market Greek vegetables and olive oil.

Greece is producing about 340 thousand tons of olive oil (13% of the world’s production), ranking third in world olive oil producers. Studies show that current production structure hardly takes any profit from the potential added value of the product. A turn of both exports and domestic demand to packaged and labeled products will considerably assist existing enterprises to upgrade their equipment and machinery and additionally will provide new employment opportunities in Greek rural areas. Combining innovation with traditional qualities in this sector could start formulating a set of practices that could bring a wider change in other agricultural sectors in the country.

The Agrarian Economy has always been associated with the survival of Greeks, especially in difficult times. It entails a strong symbolism that appears as a meaningful restart for many people who see a change in lifestyle associated with the need to change the national economic paradigm.

In the path from crisis to stability and growth, Greece has to rely primarily on its ability to change. For instance, we have to change the way we describe growth and progress (new indices should be employed to supplement our view of the economic world), we need to alter the ways we explore natural and human resources, we need to reconsider our entrepreneurial drives towards new opportunities for prosperity. Most importantly, we need to put in order key national competitive advantages, which constitute a new economic environment defined by new ways of doing business, as well as new channels of communication, promotion and commercial delivery.

Dr. Demetris Kamaras is the Editor of AlYunaniya