Farmers shaping the landscape: how do they influence the form of landscape and land use structure in Czechia?

Abstract

In the developed countries the share of agriculture in employment and economy is small, but a large proportion of land is used for agricultural purposes. Therefore, farmers have a significant influence on the form of landscape and land use. The goal of this article is to explain how the landscape form and land-use structure in Czechia are influenced by the farmers’ decisions. In the article mainly qualitative data were used. The analysis is based on the results of fifteen semi-structured interviews with farmers in the model area. The results of the study showed that farmers in Czechia have a significant influence on the landscape form and land-use structure, whereas these decisions mainly depend on their motivation to farm in a specific form. The results also showed that social capital doesn’t have any direct influence on the landscape form and land-use structure in Czechia.