Agriculture in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been collapsing for years under the burden of excessive imports, mismatched regulations and the absence of a clear state strategy.
While producers warn that domestic fields remain uncultivated, and milk and meat perish due to surpluses, economic analysts point out that the lack of precise data and institutional supervision further obscures the real state of one of the key sectors of the domestic economy.
Because of all this, agricultural production in Bosnia and Herzegovina is “on its knees”.
This is clearly shown by statistical data which say that for one convertible mark of export of agricultural products from our country, Bosnia and Herzegovina imports four convertible marks.
Agricultural producers believe that the solution to their problems lies in the formation of an umbrella institution – whether it is the Ministry of Agriculture at the state level or any other institution that will take care of agricultural producers.
Imports drive down prices
Nedžad Bićo, president of the Association of Farmers of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, tells Faktor that the surrounding countries have much better conditions, advance incentives for harvesting and sowing, as well as blue diesel.
– Much more is imported from Serbia and Croatia, and these are mostly products of lower quality. Our production is much more expensive, and the rules are changed several times during the year, so then you don’t know what to do or who to turn to, “paperwork killed us” – says Bićo.
He claims that one of the solutions, when agricultural producers have surpluses, as is now the case with milk, is to introduce surpluses “because you can do that according to CEFTA and other agreements”.
– We have a huge administration, 14 different laws and regulations, and while we “grasp” all that, we get lost, we don’t have time for that – explains Bićo.
He cites an example from the RS and says that in this entity they do not have a wholesale fiscal account, and that this represents a big problem for farmers from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina when they buy something in the RS, whether it is seeds or a tractor.
– When we buy something in the RS, we cannot get an incentive because we don’t have a fiscal account, because according to the new Rulebook of the relevant federal ministry, in order to get an incentive and settle the cost, you have to have a fiscal account – points out Bićo.
Arable land is failing because incentives are weak
Stojan Marinković, president of the Association of Agricultural Consumers in the RS, tells Faktor that the biggest problem for agricultural producers in Bosnia and Herzegovina is excessive imports.
– The policy should change at the level of foreign trade, and we have been talking about it for 15 years, but nobody is doing anything to change the situation, which is why we have more and more empty, unplowed fields. We import frozen meat in large quantities. The rule everywhere is that meat can be frozen for up to six months, only in our country for a year. And that kind of meat can only be used for processing – explains Marinković.
When asked whether Bosnia and Herzegovina needs an umbrella ministry, Marinković replies that it is politics and that he would not talk about it, but that agricultural producers in BiH really need help.
No precise data
Economists believe that one of the key obstacles to assessing the position of agricultural production in Bosnia and Herzegovina is that there is no precise data on participation in the domestic market, so exports and imports are mostly compared, which, as pointed out, is not enough.
Igor Gavran, an economic analyst, points out that the ratio of imports and exports seems catastrophic.
– A huge part of the import of agricultural and food products refers to those that we do not have and do not produce at all. Let’s say, the import of bananas and other tropical fruits is very large, and our export is, of course, zero except for maybe a few tangerines from Herzegovina, but that doesn’t mean anything because it is conditioned by the climatic situation, not a failure in export). Even if such products were excluded, this ratio would change significantly. The key is how much of the domestic market we supply ourselves, and here again we have some extraordinarily positive examples that these statistics do not show, for example, mushrooms are a very popular product that we almost exclusively produce ourselves and we do not import them at all, except for possibly a minimal amount of some exotic species. Milk is also mainly domestic in our market in the dominant types in packaging, there are many other similar examples… – says Gavran.
He points out that, with all the positive examples, it is definitely true that we have excessive imports of some other products, for which we have domestic capacities or they can be developed very quickly, he writes Factor.
– Also, even where we have a greater capacity for export, we do not use it. That part can be explained by the incomparably lower support for domestic producers compared to their competitors outside BiH (the more direct financial incentives, the more favorable business environment in general) as well as the technological lag (in some countries, drones and other advanced technologies have long been used in agriculture, and here we still have problems with irrigation and protection from natural disasters) – concludes Gavran.
