In 1990, there were 3,803 farming businesses in Luxembourg, a number which dropped to 2,022 in 2015. A further issue surrounding the industry is that many maintain it is impossible to open an agricultural business without coming from a farming background. Despite all this, the number of young people pursuing studies in agriculture at the Akerbauschoul remains constant.
The head of the agricultural section, Guy Reiland, estimated that around 40% of the students in the section are not from a farming background, a tendency on the rise. Reiland praised the section, as there is an increasing demand for qualified farmers, either with the state or in the education sector.
The possibility to work on a farm is small, but exists all the same. As fewer family members decide to pursue farming, traditional farms have to employ external employees. This number rose from 586 to 786 in the years between 2010 and 2015.
The final year projects of students also reflect how economic models and activities are undergoing change. In the penultimate and last years of secondary school, students take stock of their family business if applicable as well as pitch a project and business plan.
Even students with a farming background have to face the reality that they may not be able to work on their family farms, as one student, whose parents and brother already work the farm, found out. Instead, she decided to pursue a bachelor degree in agricultural economics.
Yves Diederech, for example, opened his own farming business last autumn. He grows vegetables on a plot of land of 1.2 hectares. Diederech follows a solidarity farming model as a means to minimise the financial risk and be able to provide members, who pay an annual membership, with fresh vegetable each week. Consequently, he works around 80 to 100 hours a week. For a one-man business, weekends and bank holidays are a thing of the past. Ultimately, Diederech hopes to be able to support himself off his business in the next two years.
Video in Luxembourgish.
