Research of New Innovative Rural Reforms and Possibilities for SMEs
On stage of preparation is new Project proposal:
Organic food production, seedlings and start up center for small farmers-producers of organic food.
The project will be prepared as pilot project for Macedonia, with few goals:
From the analysis:
… Macedonia is one of the poorest in the region with an average income per capita, measured by purchasing power standards, of 35% below the EU27 average (the analysis was made before Croatia joined in the EU on July 1st, 2013). The analysis points out, however, that this level was maintained, which means that in 2012 there was no change in the purchasing power of the Macedonians. Macedonia has a relatively good macroeconomic picture. Although the EU reports that the external imbalances increased in 2012, they still are 3.9% as the increase is from 3% in 2011. The reason is mainly in the trade deficit which has reached 24 per cent of the GDP and is funded mainly by credit because the net foreign direct investments declined in 2012 by two thirds to 1.4% of GDP. The process of preparing governmental systems to meet the acquis communautaire continues, and the European Commission’s progress report for the country records continuing progress with measures related to agriculture, food safety and veterinary standards. Farming structure: Of the country’s population of just over 2 million, more than 50% live in rural areas. The rural economy is dominated by agriculture. Agriculture produces about 10 % of the national GDP. Agri-food and fishery products total about € 450 million per year, about 15% of the country’s exports, the main exported products being tobacco, wine, lamb, and dried or fresh vegetables. Many parts of the country have fertile soils which, coupled with a warm climate, are capable of high value production and a wide variety of products. The country has 510,000 ha of cultivated land. Of the 190,000 farms, about 80% are small family farms with average farm size of 1.7 ha: working on these family farms are about 440,000 household members and 141,000 seasonal workers. Of the total value of farm production in the country, 73% is presented by arable crops and horticulture, the other 27% – by livestock production, mainly milk, followed by pig meat, cattle, sheep and goats.
The reasons that this needs to be done is the economic situation in the Republic of Macedonia in terms of agriculture development are: 1. The unemployment rate is very high (27%). 2. The villages are almost empty. 3. Agriculture is in an abysmal condition due to the migration of residents to the cities. However, the air pollution from agriculture is 13% which is in accordance with the last European Union report (2014) of progress of the country (They follow our progress because we are candidate for membership in EU). Since most of the Balkan countries are candidate states for membership in EU, all the countries are in accordance with EU rules so that financial support and programs for development are possible. The EU beings with the area of agriculture and they require 4 regulations in accordance with the strategy of CAP 2020 (http://www.cap2020.ieep.eu/) since 2014 was year of Family Farming by FAO- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (http://www.fao.org/home/en/). But in the Balkan region we do not have farms, like businesses, with regular law forms. In fact, we have only persons who own properties and persons who produce crops who are also employed elsewhere in the cities or are looking for jobs in the cities. The villages are not treated like good place to live and work. This situation is a consequence of the prior system of government where the social formula was “to produce workers and factories”, and “to produce intellectuals”. This system destroyed the perception of the importance of villages and agriculture. In Macedonia, we have 192.000 registered/evidenced “farmers” with properties or production. But about 40% of them are granted this registration by state programs where the criteria are property and quantity of agriculture products not as registered farms. The others are very small agriculture properties which are defined as “less than 2.000 Euros annual profit agriculture properties”. The Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) is an instrument for evaluating the income of agricultural holdings and the impact of the Common Agricultural Policy as implemented by the Macedonian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy. There are almost 600 farms – registered as businesses/ farms- companies. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management is prepared to consumed IPARD 2 funds 2014 to 2020, which will have the same scope as IPARD 1, plus forestry and advisory services.