1. The role of family farms in Serbia as an example of a EU accession country - policy recommendations based on FAO country study N. Bogdanov, M. Kvistgaard
The future of family farming in perspective of the launching
„UN Decade on Family Farming ( )”
12 March 2019, Bucharest, România

2. OUTLINE Agriculture sector of the Republic of Serbia
Characteristics of SHFF
Profile of farm managers
Income diversification
Access to markets for SHFF
Rural livelihood
Policies related to SHFF
Recommendations
Definitional, contextual and analytical issues
The integration and empowering of small holders in markets
Policy design and implemenation

3. Agriculture sector North South Agr. Holdings (No) UAA (ha)
Importance of agriculture in the economy
Trends in agricultural production
External trade of agro-food sector
Duality of farm structure
North
South
Agr. Holdings (No)
UAA (ha)

4. Smallholders and family farms in Serbia
There is no official definition of small farm/farmer/holder/holding
Concep/definition of agricultural holding is in place; threshold of 0.5 ha
FAO definition of „small scale food producer“ is used
The threshold is set in relative terms, at the level of the bottom 40%;
The variables used for selection criteria: land size, herd size, labour input, and revenue
SHFF are numerous and occupy considerable resources
64% of total number of AH; 21% of total UAA; 33% of AWU
Income diversification as a livelihood strategy of SHFF
33% of managers of SHFF are pluriactive!
The most of SHFF participate in the market: 67% of SHFF sell their products; 85% sell more than 50% of total production
A small number of SHFF is engaged in on-farm and diversify agricultural activity and crops

5. Characteristics of SHFF - Managers
The characteristics of farm managers are not conducive to sustained development of SHFF
SHFF managed by women in many aspects are in worse position
Managers of SHFF, by age (yrs) & sex (%)

6. Rural livelihood
High risks of poverty, material deprivation and social exclusion
Social protection is less accessible to rural housholds and population restrictions related to assets (0.5 ha);
% of salaried workers without formal contract and welfare benefits
Agriculture pensions relative to average pension and salaries

7. Access of SHFF to markets
Commercial agricultural support service sector has been growing, but demand is highly variable, and generally is low
SHFF mostly rely on public services; a small number of creditworthy clients
Access to agricultural land is limited by land prices
A concentration of land assets; emergence of newcomers to agriculture; no measures to encourage participation of FAH and SHFF in land market
Barriers to entry to high-value and niche markets (not just for SHFF)
food safety, hygiene and traceability; lack of market infrastructure; high transaction costs; labour shortages
Rural labour market is shaped by intense outmigration and prevalence of informal (agricultural) employment
A little wage employment opportunities in formal sector, especially for woman and youth; Low wage jobs, with salaries which do not provide a decent livelihood
(lack of credit history, high debt-to-asset ratio)

8. Agricultural policy
Lack of horizontal and vertical policy coordination and coherence
fragmentation and/or duplication of policy interventions and projects of various institutional bodies;
Lack of coherence between the policy objectives, measures of support and their effects
The priorities and funding schemes were selected in a predominantly pragmatic manner, rather than in compliance with the policy objectives
Policy measures and instruments do not adequately address heterogeneity of farm structure and regional diversity of farming systems
No specific support for acceleration of structural changes of SHFF;
The amount of funds allocated for rural development measures is low, narrowly orientated towards farm investment
LFA support measures are poorly chosen, poorly funded and/or implemented
Policy incentives foster farm productivity, competitiveness, and (to a certain extent) market orientation, but market participation is not well addressed

9. Recommendations 1. Definitional, contextual and analytical issues
A country specific, context specific and pargamatic definition of SHFF should be developed
Mix of both relative and absolute thresholds when defining SHFF;
different thresholds for North and South Serbia;
deeper insights are particularly needed into household income level, income composition, and into socio-economic profile of farm members
The overall system of collecting data related to SHFF should be reassessed!
The data from various registers need to be linked, set in user friendly format and publicly available databases
There is a need for strengthening the national analytical capacities of both staff and researchers dealing with rural issues

10. 2. The integration and empowering of small holders in markets - Access to land and (family) resources
New mechanisms are needed to accelerate both farmer exit and farmer entry rates
The young farmer scheme should better define whom to reach, whom to support (and with what support), and what should be the expected outcome
The scheme should clearly distinguish “newcomers” and “young farmers”
The one-off support scheme for new farmers should be introduced to accelerate the pace of start-up and increase the overall performance of the farm
Land and/or farm transfer to young farmers and agricultural workers should be facilitated and assisted
Exit strategy of aged farmers without successor should be explored prior to any further step
Facilitate joint use of farm resources and facilities by connecting old and younger farmers
Supporting local pilot programmes aiming at encouraging older farmers to look outside the family for (farm successor or) someone who could take over the farm

11. 2. The integration and empowering of small holders in markets - Food chain
Capacity building of all actors across value chain
Modernization and technological up–gradation - “the package of support” schemes
Investments in farmers market, wholesale facilities, storages
Investments into “soft” infrastructure and services – human capacities, IT, marketing, promotion, financial skills etc.
Encourage and support the development of short food chains and local networks of different actors surrounding those
To develop an official, flexible definition of short food supply chain (SFSC) and make it operational
Setting up/strengthening farmers association to ensure the sustainability of cooperation and stable links within the local food system
Creating awareness and trust among consumers, assessing their interest, attitudes and demand for local and/or traditional food products

12. 2. The integration and empowering of small holders in markets - Labour market
Formalisation of work in agriculture
Promote and encourage the association and unions of farm workers, their capacity empowerment, enforcement of new law and written contracts
Generation of new employment opportunities for rural labor
More detailed monitoring of unemployment beneficiaries from rural areas and impact of state support on this particular group is needed
Prioritize employment of rural women and youth in formal sector, whenever investments into new business supported by the state budget
Financial support to the youth in starting their own businesses, especially by funding start-ups in social and innovative entrepreneurship
Primary agricultural sector still can be an important source of jobs for marginalized and poorly-employable rural population.
It may include different forms of pooling resources by connecting older and new farmers and families

13. 3. Policy design and implementation
A more comprehensive policy response to the needs and constrains of SHFF
Better policy coordination across governmental bodies and various level policy making;
Better coherence between policy areas, policy objectives and resource allocations
Better „characterization“ of the beneficiaries of social and agricultural policy
Capacities for policy design and implementation should be enhanced
The development of functional institutional structures for administering CAP like support and development of the missing administrative structures (LPIS, IACS, food safety, LEADER)
Policy design and decision making process at local level should be guided and assisted; LSU need more autonomy and more tools to properly address specific local needs.
Facilitate the access of the rural vulnerable groups to community-based social services.
More farmers, more hectares, more diversified list of activities and products should be covered by support (and registered)
delineation increase the effectiveness of support schemes in addressing the specific needs and chellanges of beneficiaries

14. Thank you for your attention!