Some 150 small farming households affected by last year’s devastating floods received practical help today from the European Union and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).  The assistance, aimed at restoring their livelihoods, comes as part of the EU’s total flood recovery package to Serbia valued at Euro 30 million.

Each of the beneficiary farms received 200 kilograms of certified barley seed, and will receive 300 kilos of mineral fertilizer in a few days’ time. Over the next few days, more than 900 families in Loznica are targeted to receive different spring crop packages – such as barley, livestock peas, lucerne and corn, along with mineral fertilizer – under the current round of support.

Present for today’s event were Snezana Bogosavljevic Boskovic, Minister of Agriculture and Environmental protection, Oscar Benedict, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation in Serbia, and Vidoje Petrovic, President of Loznica municipality.

“I am happy to be here to witness the spring crop assistance packages being delivered to the small farming families in Loznica, said Bogosavljevac Boskovic. “I am sincerely thankful to the EU for this much needed assistance, and to FAO for bringing the assistance to the farmers in a very timely way to meet the planting season.”

“The EU continues to stand by the Serbian people during this process of recovery of livelihoods for the small farmers, and I am happy to be here to witness the fifth round of support coming to Loznica from the EU through FAO,” said Benedict. "The overall aim of the agricultural component of the EU's €30m flood relief package is to assist more than 17,000 small farming households, helping to restore their livelihoods and improve quality of their lives.” “We are thankful to the EU for the continued livelihood assistance, which has not only assisted our farmers for recovering their livelihoods, but also provided psychological support and a sigh of relief,” said Petrovic. “I sincerely thank the EU for standing with us during this difficult time, and I am also pleased to collaborate with FAO to bring this much-needed livelihood assistance in time.”

FAO has been able to support nearly 10,000 families in the 24 targeted municipalities in the last few months under the EU grant. The current round of recovery support will reach about 7,700 additional small-scale, family-operated farms in the 24 targeted municipalities, which suffered significant losses as a result of unprecedented spring flooding and landslides in 2014. Seed and mineral fertilizer are procured within Serbia, following issuance of public tenders.

The spring crop package assistance in Loznica forms part of a Euro 8 million recovery programme for Serbia’s agricultural sector supported by the European Union.

All related activities are overseen by the Flood-Affected Areas Assistance and Rehabilitation Office and the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection.

European Union assistance to flood relief in Serbia program, worth 30 million euros, is funded by the European Union under the pre-accession funds IPA. The funds will be used for construction of new houses, rehabilitation of public buildings, private houses and roads and recovery of economy and agriculture in 24 municipalities most affected with floods: Bajina Bašta, Valjevo, Varvarin, Velika Plana, Jagodina, Kosjerić, Koceljeva, Kragujevac, Kraljevo, Krupanj, Lazarevac, Loznica, Ljubovija, Mali Zvornik, Obrenovac, Osečina, Paraćin, Svilajnac, Smederevska Palanka, Trstenik, Ub, Čačak, Šabac i Šid. All activities in the field are implemented by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), organisations HELP and ABS and Danish Refugee Council (DRC) – in coordination with Government of Serbia Office for Reconstruction and Flood Relief

The information and views set out in this document are those of the FAO and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Union.

23 February, Loznica, Serbia