Deep Roots

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This long-term strategic document, defines:

• objectives, priorities and frameworks of political and

institutional reforms in the field of agriculture and rural

development

• a framework of budget support (total and per pillar),

which reflects the development commitment of the new

strategy

• indicators for monitoring the objectives realization,

position of family farms and opportunities for their

development.

The main strategic goals of this strategy are the growth of

production and income stability; growth of competitive-

ness with adjustments to the requirements of domestic and

foreign markets and technical-technological promotion of

the sector; sustainable management of resources and environ-

ment protection; promotion of quality of life in rural areas and

poverty reduction; efficient management of public policies,

and the promotion of an institutional frame for agricultural

and rural development.

Looking at farm structure in the Republic of Serbia, it is

evident that small-scale farms are dominant. Owing to their

number and specific ways of functioning, small family farms

represent an indispensable part of Serbia’s rural economy.

The ageing of family farms, migrations and globalization are

causing a significant decrease in the number of family farms.

On the other hand, small family farms, as invaluable guard-

ians of the countryside, need to be given special attention in

agricultural policy, because of the influence they have on the

preservation of rural resources and rural ambience, participa-

tion in local commodities and services markets, their own

production of food and the rural economy. Therefore, the basic

goal of the Strategy of Agriculture and Rural Development

2014-2020 is to define the specifics of rural areas through a

rural development policy and to ensure possibilities for the

growth of small family farms in Serbia.

Small family farms in Serbia make a very heterogeneous

group and could be divide into several categories. The cate-

gory of poor farms can be further divided to two subtypes:

ageing farms which are often run by a single person, and

farms owned by people who were once employed outside

of agriculture and/or have been long-term unemployed. The

next category is people ‘returning’ from urban areas. These

are mostly older, retired people or sporadically young fami-

lies which prefer rural ambience and are willing to start some

alternative activity on a small agricultural farm. The third

category is habitants of rural areas with regular incomes from

sectors outside agriculture. These could be entrepreneurs or

employees of public services or other firms in or near to the

place where they live.

The current potential of small rural farms in the Republic

of Serbia is modest, inadequate and thus insufficiently attrac-

tive for investments. For small rural farms, agricultural land

itself is the basis of their security, but equipment, facilities and

mechanization are very modest, outdated and rarely used for

gaining additional income.

Unfortunately, poverty in Serbia is mostly a rural phenom-

enon, and in certain periods rural areas have been almost two

times more affected by poverty than urban areas. Considering

that economic crisis has a strong impact on employment in

the agricultural sector – one of the most dominant sectors

in the rural economy – it is almost certain that the trend of

poverty growth in the rural areas will increase in upcoming

years. As the socioeconomic profile of small family farms is

very diverse, their survival strategies and consequently their

attitude towards agriculture and rural development should be

significantly different.

With all this in mind, the Ministry of Agriculture and

Environmental Protection has prepared the National

Programme for Rural Development of the Republic of Serbia

2015-2020 as a long-term plan that will address most of the

issues that rural areas are currently facing. It defines special

activities, all aiming to support the income of small family

farms. The policy of rural development for the Republic of

Serbia, defined by this programme, will focus on efficient

mechanisms that will coordinate agricultural development

and other activities in rural areas with principles governing

sustainable development, in an effort to improve living stand-

ards and quality of life in rural areas.

Diversification of the rural economy and the income of

small family farms has represented an important part of the

agrarian policy of the Republic of Serbia for many years now.

Agrarian policy is also orientated towards the production of

traditional food products, intended not only for local markets

but for international markets as well. An important part of the

Programme for Rural Development is dealing with the diver-

sification of rural activities, aiming to lessen poverty in small

farms by broadening their activities and engaging all resources

towards increased employment of members of these farms.

Currently there is an intense concurrency of agricultural

products, not only on the national market but also on the

global market. In their effort to be concurrent on the global

market, many producers are turning to the production of

traditional (authentic) products – that is, products with a

geographical indication, which are distinguished not only by

Small-scale producers are prevalent in Serbia’s livestock sector

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