In the 1990s, the residents of the villages situated in the Nida Valley (Ponidzie) - just as elsewhere in Poland - found themselves in a difficult economic situation. Changes in rural areas, especially the positive ones, are taking place at a lower pace than those in towns and cities, while some farmers are barely trying to adapt themselves to the new reality, let alone change it. Diversification, or rather polarisation of the situation of individual villages and farms, is easily visible. Those villages and farms whose residents are younger, more educated and enterprising, are enjoying amore favourable situation. The most serious problem facing the rural areas in the Pińczów region and in the entire Nida Valley is the creation of new jobs with a view to reduce employment in agriculture. This is even more important owing to the fact that a large part of the population working in farms do not use their full potential. Therefore, the region' s rural areas perform a kind of social function, providing a "reserve pool" for open and hidden unemployment. Developing activities in other sectors than agriculture in farms may become one of the reasons alleviating the effects of agrarian overpopulation and lead to its improved productivity. It seems that in the present economic situation this is the most viable reason, since it is rather difficult to expect that the towns of the Ponidzie might absorb such a large group in the near future. However, the development of activities outside agriculture in farms requires same support from the state, for example in the form of increased availability of investment loans. The creation of new jobs in rural areas (outside agriculture) will be coupled with the development of economic activity. Cottage industry might play a major role in this respect, since it does not require any substantial capital expenditure and rewards ingenuity and organisation of orders. At the same time, the absorptive power of the market, particularly abroad, for wicker products, regional lace, tablecloth etc., is quite high (Duczkowska-Małysz, 1998). In the region, the development of small production facilities ( e.g. manufacture of building materials, carpentry, processing of agricultural produce) and various types of services might significantly affect the process of job creation. The attractiveness of the natural environment of the Ponidzie region may act as a driver for the development of rural tourism, including agri-tourism. This, however, would have to be preceded by investing in infrastructure facilities in the region's villages.
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