Abstract

On average, for the whole transition period, about 30-35% of the active population employed in agriculture has "generated" only 20-22% of the country's total GDP. Romania is confronted thus with an absolute and relative labor surplus lacking the necessary equipment and, hence, with a low productivity level. The paper presents the macroeconomic framework of the agri-food sector, its disintegration in the '90s and the implications of this phenomenon. In the second part, the article presents the distortions in the domestic and external competitiveness of the agri-food economy. During the transition years 1990-1999, the agri-food economy insertion in the Romanian external trade flows has deteriorated by 32%, from 7% (positive) to 25% (negative). 
* (Paper presented at the "Agri-Food System in the New Millennium" Symposium, Bologna, Italy, 2001).

Key words: agri-food economy, competitiveness
JEL Classification: Q18, F14