2015 Volume 6 Issue 2 Pages 35-41
Bosnia, Montenegro, and Serbia (BMS) are in a phase of consolidation, which implies rising of economic growth, agricultural productivity, and fostering rural development. Therefore, it is crucial to have a clear idea about problems faced by rural population in order to design effective rural development policies. The paper aims at highlighting the main problems in rural areas of BMS with a particular focus on those hampering good governance and increased diversification of their rural economies. For each country, significance of the problems was identified; and a critical analysis was performed to highlight causes, implications in terms of rural governance and policy, and potential solutions. Problems were identified in the framework of surveys dealing with agricultural and rural development governance that involved representatives of public, civil society, and international organizations: 120 in Bosnia (winter 2011), 50 in Montenegro (winter 2012), and 120 in Serbia (summer 2013). Economic problems include difficult access to financial resources, low level of investments, rural economy diversification, limited employment opportunities, small and uncompetitive farms, and rural enterprises. Remoteness and isolation, bad local natural resources management, and increased pollutions were the main environmental and geographic problems mentioned by the interviewees. Socio-cultural and demographic problems encompass rural poverty, low quality of life, gender inequity, low human capital of the rural population, unpopularity of agriculture and alarming negative demographic trends. Focus of local development strategies mainly on agriculture and lack of local spatial plans are some of the political and regulatory problems. There are also problems related to the poor physical infrastructure and services, and lack of processing facilities and local markets. For smooth accession to the European Union (EU), BMS should address these problems urgently in a systemic and holistic way to unlock the growth potential of rural areas, taking stock of the current EU’s rural development policy.
