International aid focus shifts to long-term food
security in Bosnia and Herzegovina
International aid to wartorn Bosnia and Herzegovina
is shifting gradually from emergency to development
assistance as peace initiatives take effect, although a
significant proportion of the population continues to remain
highly vulnerable with respect to food quality and
availability.
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Seed
recipient looks out over new crop
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A major casualty of the three-year war has been the
agriculture sector. The large population movements that have
occurred since the war's beginning in 1992, as well as the
damage caused to farm equipment, livestock, crops and input
supplies, have devastated on-farm production. Essential
agricultural inputs for food production and preservation -
including high-quality seed, fertilizer, hand tools and food
preservatives - are still in short and irregular supply and
their cost is beyond the reach of those most in need.
Early aid efforts focused on emergency distribution of
inputs to the most vulnerable pockets of the population in
war-affected areas. Over three years, FAO's Special Relief
Operations Service distributed over 15 000 tonnes of seed
(wheat, potatoes, barley, onions), 300 000 vegetable packs
and 7 000 tonnes of fertilizer to vulnerable farmers through
projects funded by the governments of Finland, Italy, the
Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR). Since 1994 FAO has served as the UN lead agency for
the coordination of agencies, donors and NGOs providing
relief and short-term rehabilitation interventions for
agriculture in the country.
In 1997, the Organization continues to address the most
immediate needs of displaced people and poor families in the
areas of Gorazde, Sanski Most and Kulen Vakuf near Bihac, as
well as women's groups displaced from Srebrenica.
Recent international assistance efforts are attempting to
bridge emergency agricultural relief with rehabilitation and
development to improve food security. For example, the FAO
project Emergency Production of High-Quality Seed for
War-Affected Areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina, begun in July
1996, is working to establish a seed production and
maintenance network throughout the country. Funded by Japan
through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the
project's aim is to increase the local production of
high-quality commercial seed.
An immediate objective of the project is the installation
of a seed quality control laboratory in Sarajevo, to be
funded by the Government of Switzerland. The Seed Quality
Control Expertise in Sarajevo for Bosnia and Herzegovina
project is set to establish an accredited and operational
seed quality control laboratory in line with international
standards.
Seed quality control activities came to a halt in Bosnia
and Herzegovina when the former seed testing facility was
completely devastated during the first year of the war. All
of the laboratory's equipment was either destroyed or
stolen, qualified staff left, and no other intermin
laboratory took over the operations. Seed samples from the
country are currently being sent abroad for quality
testing.
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FAO's
Investment Centre has also been
intensely involved in efforts to revive agriculture
and long-term food security in Bosnia and
Herzegovina.
Immediately after the Dayton Peace Accord was
signed in December 1995, FAO fielded a
reconnaissance mission to identify areas of Bosnia
and Herzegovina where emergency funding was most
needed. As a result of this mission, a US$50
million Emergency Farm Reconstruction project was
launched to boost agricultural production, improve
domestic food security and create income-generating
employment for the war-affected rural population.
The project, co-financed by the World Bank, the
European Union and the International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD), provided an
emergency contribution to restoring livestock,
equipment and other essential assets of private
farms. More than 4 000 tractors and harvesters, as
well as nearly 4 000 pregnant heifers and 1 400
goats, were procured and imported, benefiting 8 000
of the country's neediest farmers. The project
managed to start distributing the animals and
equipment by June 1996, just six months after it
had first been formulated, and it is now fully
implemented. FAO, which was responsible for the
project's formulation, is now assisting the country
to evaluate its impact and sustainability. At the
same time, the World Bank and IFAD are preparing a
second phase.
The Investment Centre has also focused on Bosnia
and Herzegovina's forestry sector, which somehow
survived the civil strife relatively unscathed. At
the end of the war, the forests were remarkably
intact and 75 percent of the industry was more or
less untouched. But there was no equipment to carry
the trees from the forests to the lumberyards to
jump-start this badly needed money-making
enterprise. At present, specialized tractors,
trucks, chainsaws and other equipment are ready for
mobilization under an emergency forestry project
financed by the World Bank and the European Union,
which also aims at providing building material for
reconstruction of damaged houses. "These activities
are evidence of FAO's active participation, not
just to give away seeds and other agricultural
inputs, but to take a much broader approach to
development," said Lennart Ljungman, a forestry
expert who led the Investment Centre team sent to
assess damage resulting from the four-year war.
The Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina has
expressed an interest in broadening the involvement
of FAO and the Investment Centre. In July of this
year the Government officially requested to
participate in FAO's
Special
Programme for Food Security. As a
low-income food-deficit country, Bosnia and
Herzegovina is eligible for assistance under this
programme, which aims to improve national food
security through rapid increases in food production
and availability. An Investment Centre mission is
currently being carried out to explore the best
approaches for the programme's implementation in
Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the same time, the Serb
Republic will be informed about the possibilities
of participating in the Special Programme.
The Investment Centre helps developing countries
mobilize investments for agriculture and rural
development by assisting them in identifying and
formulating projects for funding by both national
and multilateral institutions.
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More information on the
FAO
Investment Centre.
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2 September 1997
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