World Report

he agricultural sector is almost entirely under private ownership, but economists say this has done little to increase productivity since the civil war.
Farming methods are old-fashioned and plans to modernise were affected by the war, which drove people from the land to the relative safety of the cities.
Although many farmers have since returned, the need to earn a living, even as more people are fed off the land, has tended to undermine efforts to make farming more efficient. The fact that agriculture provides an income for a substantial share of the population has only added to the reluctance of governments to reform the sector.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a net importer of agricultural produce and still depends on food aid from the EU, the US and other donors, which have also contributed finance and technical assistance to increase output. But agronomists warn that the current level of aid is far too small.
The European Commission is funding several small-scale agricultural projects, and the Rome-based United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) disbursed a $400,000 package of financial aid in October 2001 to support the winter sowing season.

The US Agriculture Department donated 63,000 tonnes of wheat and 2,000 tonnes of soybean meal via a private voluntary aid agency. Revenues from sales of this food are being used to fund agricultural training programmes and loans to farmers or returning refugees, according to US officials.
Overseas experts are urging the government to view greater cooperation and trade with neighbouring countries as the key to improving the farming sector.

The government has negotiated a free trade agreement with Slovenia, which reduces customs duties on some agricultural exports from the start of this year. Benefits for exporters will flow both ways, and the Slovenian economic ministry predicts that the deal will boost exports of agricultural produce from Slovenia to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The country also has a free trade agreement with Croatia and Hungary.
Last year, the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina signed a nine-nation agreement with the Turkish government, intended to pave the way for greater economic, scientific and technical cooperation in agriculture in the Balkans. The other signatories were Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Albania, Macedonia and Yugoslavia.