Poland

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is the main government body responsible for rural development in Poland. It serves as the Managing Authority of the CAP Strategic Plan, and the national programme for the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF). The Ministry is also responsible for the development of strategic documents, including the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Areas, Agriculture and Fisheries 2030.

It takes part in inter-ministerial consultations on legislation relevant to rural development and plays a leading role in drafting legal acts concerning rural areas, in cooperation with other Ministries, such as the legislation on energy cooperatives operating in rural communities, developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Climate and Environment.

The Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy coordinates its activities with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to ensure alignment between rural development and cohesion policy. The Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy chairs both the national Committee for the Partnership Agreement and the Sub-Committee for Community-Led Local Development (CLLD), while the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development holds the position of Vice-Chair in both bodies. 

The Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Areas, Agriculture and Fisheries 2030 is Poland’s main policy framework dedicated to rural areas. Updated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2023, the strategy sets out a mid-term vision to strengthen rural communities through their multifunctional economic development—ensuring food security, increasing value added in agriculture, and enabling stable income growth for rural populations, while reducing economic, social, and territorial disparities and improving environmental conditions.

The strategy is built around three specific objectives:

The National Strategy for Regional Development 2030 frames Poland’s territorial development and cohesion policy. Led by the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy,  it introduces the concept of ‘areas of strategic intervention’ to identify territories where public support should be prioritised. These include rural regions, particularly those that are remote, structurally weak or marginalised.

The strategy highlights the significant disparities in infrastructure and service provision between rural and urban areas and calls for coordinated action to improve access, foster inclusive development, and strengthen territorial resilience.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development leads rural development policy in Poland and collaborates closely with the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy and other Ministries. Coordination takes place through formal inter-ministerial bodies that facilitate both strategic alignment and funding coherence.

In terms of EU funding coordination, the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy chairs the national Committee for the Partnership Agreement, which oversees the implementation of cohesion policy programmes. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is one of the three Vice-Chairs of this Committee. A dedicated Sub-Committee for Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) has also been established to coordinate CLLD implementation across funds and sectors, including rural and urban areas. This body is chaired by the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy, with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development acting as Vice-Chair.

Regional and local governments play an active role in shaping and implementing rural development policies in Poland. Each of Poland’s 16 regions prepares a Regional Development Strategy aligned with the National Strategy for Regional Development 2030. These regional strategies often include objectives related to rural development, particularly in addressing territorial disparities, infrastructure, and service provision. During the preparation of Poland’s rural development strategy, temporary rural development teams were established in each voivodeship to support diagnostic work. 

The coordination of rural development instruments in Poland involves distinct but complementary roles across ministries and governance levels. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development acts as the Managing Authority for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Strategic Plan, including oversight of LEADER, and for the national programme for the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF). Implementation is carried out mainly by the Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture, which also plays the role of Paying Agency for farm support. Some functions for LEADER are delegated to regional authorities, acting as Intermediate Bodies.

The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) are split into two parts: the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy serves as Managing Authority of the national part of the funding, while regional authorities manage their own Regional Operational Programmes. To ensure coherence between CAP and Cohesion Policy and across governance levels, mechanisms for cross-participation are in place, with representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development attending regional monitoring committees of EU funds and vice versa.

Key coordination structures include the Committee for the Partnership Agreement and Sub-Committee for Community-Led Local Development (CLLD):

The Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture (pl. Agencja Restrukturyzacji i Modernizacji Rolnictwa – ARiMR) is a public body responsible for implementing agricultural and rural development support in Poland. The Agency is headed by a President appointed by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland upon a joint request by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Minister of Finance.

The Agency has a decentralised structure composed of a central headquarters, 16 regional offices (one per voivodship), and 314 local offices, ensuring proximity to rural communities and effective delivery of support schemes. ARiMR manages both EU co-financed instruments and national funding programmes. Its beneficiaries include farmers, rural residents, agri-food sector entrepreneurs, local governments, and fisheries operators.

Poland is gradually strengthening its capacity for rural proofing. The Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Areas, Agriculture and Fisheries 2030, led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, calls for reducing economic, social, and territorial disparities between urban and rural areas through data-informed and context-sensitive approaches. The strategy encourages better coordination across ministries and the early assessment of policy impacts on rural communities.

In 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development set up a Task Force on the long-term vision for rural areas and their support from national and EU funds after 2027, bringing together representatives of the Ministry, key public bodies, and other relevant ministries. One of its objectives is to assess how different national policies (such as regional development, housing, transport, or employment) affect rural communities.

In line with this approach, the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2025 brought rural proofing to the forefront of EU policy discussions. During the AGRIFISH Council of 24 February 2025, the Presidency led a high-level policy debate on integrating rural dimensions into different UE policies and sectoral legislation. This signalled a national and European-level commitment to ensuring that rural realities are considered in all stages of policymaking.

While Poland does not have a formal rural proofing mechanism, principles of rural-sensitive policymaking are evident in recent legislation. One notable example is the Energy Cooperatives Act (2021), developed jointly by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Climate and Environment. It facilitates the creation of energy cooperatives in rural areas, enabling local residents and farmers to jointly produce and manage renewable energy. The law explicitly addresses administrative and technical barriers for rural participation in the energy transition.

Another example is the network of community associations which manage small schools in rural areas.  It exists in parallel with public schools managed by municipalities and ensures high quality of early-age education close to the children. It reflects rural-proofing logic by ensuring educational service continuity despite demographic decline and spatial remoteness.

Statistics Poland (pl. Główny Urząd Statystyczny – GUS) is the national statistical office responsible for collecting, analysing, and disseminating official statistics in Poland. It provides data and analytical tools to support evidence-based policymaking at national, regional, and local levels.

GUS publishes an urban–rural typology applied to subregions (NUTS‑3), categorising them as ‘predominantly urban’, ‘intermediate’, or ‘predominantly rural’ based on population density and settlement patterns using a 1 km² grid framework. This classification is used in national and EU-funded programme monitoring—including under the CAP Strategic Plan—to ensure targeted, place-sensitive policy design and evaluation. 

GUS also classifies municipalities (pl. gmina) into urban, urban–rural, and rural categories based on administrative status, as defined in the national TERYT (National Official Register of the Territorial Division of the Country). These categories underpin statistical reporting and help tailor rural development interventions at local level.

GUS has developed the strategic analytical system STRATEG to support the monitoring of socio-economic development across Poland, including rural areas. It offers open-access data on a wide range of indicators related to territorial cohesion, demography, infrastructure, and service accessibility—disaggregated by region and municipality. The system also serves as a repository of indicators from various strategies.

As part of ongoing efforts to strengthen data-informed rural policymaking, the government has expressed interest in expanding STRATEG into a national rural observatory. 

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, as all public authorities in Poland, has a mandatory programme of cooperation with NGOs, and annual reports of such cooperation are published on the Ministry’s website. It also has a number of consultative bodies representing a variety of rural and agricultural interests, with whom key legislative acts are consulted.

The inaugural Polish Rural Parliament took place on 8 May 2025 in Poznań as part of the European Congress on Renewal and Rural Development. Initiated by the Polish Rural Forum together with the Union of Rural Youth, it brings together a number of national-level organisations, including the Polish LAG Network, Union of Rural Municipalities, National Association of Village Leaders (sołtys), Forum of Educational Initiatives, as well as some organisations representing farming interests, such as the National Council of Agricultural Chambers and the Union of Employers in Agriculture. Further progress on the Polish Rural Parliament, including the modalities of its funding and the methods of work, will be decided in autumn 2025.

The National Rural Network+ (PRN+) is a partnership network for the exchange of information and cooperation at the regional, national and international level between organisations and administration, representatives of the agricultural sector, advisors, scientists, entities involved in the implementation of innovations and other entities working for the development of agriculture. It continues and expands the work of earlier rural networking structures. There are currently two thematic networks within the PRN+: the Polish Innovation Network (SIR) and the Polish Network of Demonstration Farms (SGD).       

PRN+ fosters cooperation, knowledge exchange, and capacity building among a broad range of stakeholders: public institutions, rural communities, farmers, researchers, entrepreneurs, and civil society organisations. It supports the implementation of the CAP Strategic Plan 2023–2027 through training, promotion of good practices, peer learning, and networking activities. PRN+ also contributes to the development of the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) and helps connect actors involved in LAGs, EIP Operational Groups, and other territorial partnerships.

The national Agricultural Advisory Centre (CDR) (supervised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) and 16 regional Agricultural Advisory Centres (ODRs) (supervised by the regional authorities) support both agriculture and rural development. In addition to their advisory role for farmers, the ODRs provide guidance and training to rural actors in areas such as entrepreneurship, care farming, rural tourism, digital transformation, and social economy development. They also support Local Action Groups (LAGs), promote innovation, and assist in the implementation of Smart Villages and other place-based initiatives, contributing to territorial development and the diversification of rural economies.

The Polish Rural Forum is a national platform that facilitates collaboration and mutual learning among rural stakeholders. It brings together representatives from rural NGOs, research institutions, and rural communities to exchange best practices and engage in policy discussions. The Forum organises conferences, workshops, and participatory events to strengthen rural networks and promote integrated rural development approaches.