The Institute of Agricultural Economics and Information (IAEI) is a publicly funded organization established by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic (MoA) in accordance with Section 31 of Act No 576/1990 Coll., on the rules of management of the budgetary resources of the Czech Republic and Municipalities in the Czech Republic (budgetary rules of the republic) as of January 1, 1993.
Since April 19, 2016, the Director of IAEI has been Ing. Štěpán Kala, MBA, Ph.D.
Core Purpose of IAEI
- Conducting basic and applied research and development, and disseminating its results through education, publishing, or technology transfer in the fields of agricultural economics and policy, including the development of the multifunctional nature of agriculture and rural areas.
- Disseminating research findings and development through various forms of knowledge transfer to support the agricultural sector and rural areas, while providing comprehensive professional services for the Ministry of Agriculture and other government bodies.
- Serving as an educational, advisory, and information center for agriculture, food industry, and rural development, primarily through acquiring, processing, preservation, and dissemination of information.
- Serving as the contact point for the Liaison Agency FADN CZ.
- Establishing a qualification framework for the agricultural advisory system and providing further education for target groups in agriculture and rural areas.
The core purpose of IAEI is further elaborated into its main and other activities:
Science and research:
We carry out tasks primarily focused on studies, analyses, calculations, etc., in the field of agricultural economics. At the same time, we conduct research projects focusing on the application of research findings to economic policies, which form an important professional and knowledge base for fulfilling the assigned tasks.
FADN (Farm Accountancy Data Network):
The main purpose of FADN is to monitor the operations and income situation of agricultural enterprises for the purpose of preparation and evaluation of the effectiveness of the EU Common Agricultural Policy. The FADN survey represents a unique source of harmonized and comparable data on the operations of agricultural enterprises, processed with a unified methodology across all member states of the EU. The IAEI uses the information obtained through the FADN survey as an important information base for fulfilling other tasks and projects.
Library of Antonín Švehla:
The mission of the Library of Antonín Švehla, as a specialized library with nationwide reach, is to provide public library and information services in the fields of agriculture, food industry, and related areas for a wide professional and general audience. It is one of the largest agricultural libraries in the world.
Advisory services:
The Czech Agricultural Advisory System is part of the European Farm Advisory System (FAS). The IAEI primarily carries out activities focused on maintaining the Register of advisors accredited by the MoA, accrediting new advisors, enhancing the professional competence of MoA-accredited advisors, monitoring MoA-accredited advisors, and certifying advisory entities.
Educational activities:
The IAEI organizes educational events according to the requirements and needs of the Ministry of Agriculture in various areas of the agricultural sector.
Mission of IAEI
The mission of the IAEI is to strive to improve the quality of life for entrepreneurs, communities, and individuals active in rural areas of the Czech Republic by providing high-quality services in the fields of analysis, scientific research, expertise, information, education, and consultancy. Additionally, the IAEI actively contributes to the preparation of decision support materials for the MoA, focusing on the agricultural sector, rural development, natural resources, and the communities and individuals within the agri-food complex, particularly through objective economic analyses, scientific research, publishing, education, advisory services, and information activities.
Vision of IAEI
Our vision is to make the IAEI a respected leader in the fields of analytical, scientific, research, educational, advisory, and information services at regional, national, and international levels, particularly in relation to agriculture, food industry, and trade. Additionally, the IAEI aims to meet the strict criteria and requirements, primarily of the MoA and other stakeholders in the agri-food sector and the external environment. This will lead to improvement and enhancement of the accuracy of economic and structural information and data sets collected from stakeholders in the agri-food complex, which is used to create analyses for decision-making by the MoA. The final use of the IAEI’s analyses and other outputs to support decision-making by the MoA will contribute to achieving national goals of Agricultural Policy, such as maintaining or regaining the competitiveness of the agri-food complex, ensuring economic sustainability, supporting rural development, and fostering vibrant rural communities. The primary focus in developing the IAEI is to monitor and address the priority issues and needs of commercial agriculture, considering the owners of resources, entrepreneurs, and related stakeholders of the agri-food complex, all of whom are interdependent.
The IAEI in relation to the Ministry of Agriculture
The activities outlined in the founding document clearly show that the IAEI primarily fulfills a service function as a support for the MoA's decision-making. In this context, the organization of the IAEI’s work is also aligned with the needs, expectations, and requirements of the MoA. This fact has a significant impact on the scope of funding of all of IAEI's activities.
Every year, the MoA assigns the IAEI annual thematic tasks, which arise from the focus and needs of the MoA's individual departments.
The further development and maintenance of the IAEI's research, analytical, and educational activities is the foundation for high-quality service for the MoA, as well as for the IAEI's other roles within the resort of the MoA. A stable research base is essential for the other subsequent outputs of the IAEI, which provide greater added value for the client due to the synergy derived from this research base. Without it, the IAEI's activities and outputs would lose the necessary added value and the important knowledge advantage over the needs of the practice.
In recent years, the research at the IAEI (particularly an applied research) has primarily been funded from institutional sources dedicated to the development of the organization's research infrastructure. The funds for the long-term development of the research organization are provided from public resources. For this reason, alongside efficiency, emphasis is also placed on ensuring maximum transparency in their use. The IAEI allocates the institutional support funds through an internal grant competition, which determines the so-called internal research projects for each year.
The other sources of funding for the research activities of the IAEI are participations in national and international projects.