Social Protection for Food Security, Nutrition and Rural Development in Southern Europe

The Balkan countries, particularly the former Yugoslav Republics, have a strong legacy of a well-developed social protection infrastructure and practices which, however, have been destabilised by the transition, conflicts and instability. The possibility of EU membership for prospective candidate countries poses the need to meet the necessary conditions but it is widely recognised that progress has been slow in this regard, and equitable access to social protection remains not adequate.

FAO’s particular role can in ensuring that social protection programmes in the region are: (1) expanded to better reach the poorest and most vulnerable living in rural areas; (2) linked to agricultural and rural development programmes that further support rural populations where relevant; and (3) made more nutrition-sensitive, in line with the recommendations of the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2).