The Agricultural Policy Forum 2022 is successfully completed! This year, the event gathered more than 140 representatives of relevant institutions from 12 countries of the Western Balkans and beyond.
The 22nd Agricultural Policy Forum, “Agriculture and Rural Development in the context of the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans: Overcoming the Impact of the Global Challenges”, hereafter referred to as the “Forum”, was held on 19 and 20 October 2022 in Tirana, Albania. The Forum placed a special focus on the impacts of climate change on agriculture in the Western Balkans (WBs) and the recommended policy actions towards mitigation, including enabling and stimulating organic agricultural production as well as sustainable wine production and finding respective markets for it, sustainable forest management, developing functional Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems, and Regional Soil Partnership in the Western Balkans. Rural youth received attention in the Forum due to its potential to be the major driver of sustainable rural development.
The Agricultural Policy Forum 2022 was held under the joint auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Albania and the Regional Rural Development Standing Working Group (SWG) in South-Eastern Europe.
The participants of the Agricultural Policy Forum 2022 highly appreciated the support provided by the convening institutions and organizations: European Commission (DG Agriculture and Rural Development), German Government (Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture – BMEL, Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development – BMZ and German Agency for International Cooperation – GIZ), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The Forum summarized the outcomes and recommendations from the four working groups dedicated to regional cooperation on legal harmonization in the wine sector, sustainable forest management in the Western Balkans, Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) and the role of youth in the rural development The Forum greatly appreciates the efforts of the EU and the countries/territories of the Western Balkans to accelerate the EU accession process of the region. It encourages the governments in the WBs and especially the ministries of agriculture to undertake all the necessary actions to respond to the challenges along the way. While focusing on immediate issues (food security, increased prices of agricultural inputs as a result of the high energy cost) the countries/territories are urged to stay on track with the implementation of the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans (GAWB).
The Tirana Agenda 2022 summarizes the main outcomes of the Forum.
Plenary Session presentations you can find on the following link: https://apf.seerural.org/outputs/
Working Group presentations: https://apf.seerural.org/working-groups/
