Klarić: Increasing agricultural spending is a recipe for fighting hunger and poverty

SARAJevo, (Patria) - The sectors of agriculture, food industry, and rural development must become strategic sectors in FBiH, especially now during major price disruptions, believes Sanela Klarić, a representative of Our Party in the Parliament of FBiH. On this occasion, she proposed that an additional 49 million KM be allocated in the 2022 budget for incentives in agriculture and rural development.

“The currently planned amount is 101 million KM, which is significantly less than the legally prescribed three to six percent of the total revenue in the current year in FBiH. We must, at least today, when food is becoming a luxury and when we see a daily increase in the number of public kitchen users, if nothing else, respect our own legal provisions when it comes to agriculture and rural development. We must ensure the food stability of the Federation of BiH in terms of both quantity and quality of food products, from sufficient quantities of commodity reserves, food prices, to their health. To succeed in this, we must start from the foundation, which is domestic agricultural production and rural development. It has always been like that, but today it is becoming overly emphasized and we must not turn a deaf ear – the stability of a country is reflected in how stable its food industry and agricultural sector are. In the past system, there was a slogan that illustrated this point, which read: the village leads. Today we will not say that, but we must not settle for less than rural development being at least equally treated with the rest of social development. The figure I propose, 150 million, is small, but it is currently the largest possible amount that the current budget allows to make agriculture and rural development equal, without harming anyone.

This proposal is also supported by the Committee for Agriculture, Water Management, and Forestry of the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament, as well as agricultural associations in FBiH.

Of course, this amount should be accompanied by a new law on agriculture and a new law on monetary support in agriculture, which are ready and must be urgently sent into procedure. Also, I will insist that the Rulebook for the use of monetary funds in agriculture for 2022 include mechanisms for monitoring, control, supervision, inspection, and punishment for irregular investments,” said Klarić.