Deep Roots

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Croatia: promoting and

supporting family farmers

Tihomir Jakovina, Minister of Agriculture, Croatia

roatian agriculture has come a long way, emerging

from the closed system and market of the former

Yugoslavia to become integrated into the common

market system of the European Union (EU). During this

time there have been a lot of changes in Croatian agricul-

ture. Today there are between 180,000 and 200,000 family

farms from which, depending on the year, around 95,000

are under the subsidies system.

In terms of land ownership, Croatian agriculture and rural

areas are still characterized by many small plots with an

average of 5.7 hectares per farm. This is still not enough for

competitive agricultural production.

The process of coming out of the previous socialist system

and into the market economy has brought many problems to

Croatian producers, and agricultural policy did not encour-

age the expansion. The most important reason for that was

that the Government is the biggest owner of agricultural land,

with other small, private parcels of land divided between many

owners. Croatia joining the World Trade Organization and the

EU Single Payment Scheme has resulted in some processes being

introduced, but these are still not enough to ensure competi-

tive and developed family farms. On the other hand, for some

agriculture producers the idea of joining cooperatives still holds

negative associations with the socialist period and a ‘must join’

attitude. Efforts to encouraging the consolidation of agricultural

land as the basis for competitive production began a few years

ago, and the Government has tried to change limiting factors

through legislative solutions over the past two years. The Law on

Agricultural Land and the Law on Land Management will accel-

erate consolidation, especially for livestock breeding, a sector

which is in an unenviable position in Europe.

The Ministry of Agriculture has prepared these two laws,

which have passed extensive public discussion and gained

Image: Minister of Agriculture, Croatia

Croatian wines are recognizable across the world, and the combination of wine, food and tourism is becoming a Croatian brand

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