A recent milestone of political development has been that Kosovo signed the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU in October 2015. Nevertheless, bureaucracy, corruption and limited legal security remain one of the biggest problems of the country. The legal and political environment is thus characterized by weak institutional development in terms of service provision and applying principles of good governance. As for the macro-economic developments, despite a recent economic growth of around 3,5% (World Bank 2015) over the last years, poverty and unemployment rates, especially youth unemployment, remain high. Persistent high levels of trade deficit reflect a weak production structure, which is prevalent also in the agricultural sector. Although Kosovo’s agriculture contributes with some 14% to the country´s GDP, it is dominated by semi-subsistent farming and small holdings. The prevalence of these characteristics indicates that agriculture represents an important social safety net for many. Further challenges are outdated technologies  and  farm  management  practices,  weak rural and advisory infrastructure and the lack of access to credit and investments. Having these challenges in mind, it is not surprising that Kosovo’s agro-food trade deficit has been widening.

Expected Results

ER1: The capacity of municipal support structures, Young Professionals and other development actors (NGOs, cooperatives, associations) are strengthened to provide effective and demand-driven services to agricultural producers and processors.

ER2: Grant scheme established and operational, supported grants sustainable beyond the project duration and municipal support structures actively engaged in the grant disbursement cycle to enhance ownership and knowledge transfer.

ER3: Women and socio-economically vulnerable groups in target municipalities involved into agro-businesses through targeted capacity development and funding scheme.

Target group/participants

The project will benefit at least 750 farmers (male and female), 15 young professionals, 20 public employees, 90 individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds (from which 50% women) and that consist mainly of small holder farmers, members of marginalized ethnic minorities, widows and female headed households. Given the comprehensive training component for the target municipalities, it is expected that at least 10.000 farmers will be indirectly reached via public agrobusiness advisory services in the 4 municipalities. Indirect participants represent some 65.000 individuals from the targeted rural populations.