A G R I C U L T U R E
What news about today's Yugoslavia has overwhelmingly dominated the attention of the international community for the last decade? News of war and sanctions, especially related to Bosnia to the west and Kosovo. News also that, while formerly united, the peoples of today's Yugoslavia are faced with nationalistic boundaries, separation and alienation. One organisation in the country's northern province of Vojvodina, however, may have a partial answer.
"In devastated and destructive social surroundings, health and environmental protection comes to the fore as an imperative topic because it connects and unites us regardless of ideological, religious, ethnic or political differences," says Tereza Horvat Skenderovic, President of Natural Food Association Terra's based in Subotica, northern Yugoslavia.
Before the war, Subotica and its environs boasted 27 cultures — a multi-cultural mosaic that began to unwind under the onslaught of nationalistic tendencies. Given the need to re-unite all sides, Terra's was born, fighting in the name of health and environment, family, food and agriculture.
The Subotica area was a prime candidate for agricultural unity, with over 20,000 families owning and farming some 80,000 hectares of land (80 percent of the whole area). During the war, Western sanctions prevented local farmers from importing chemical pesticides and fertilisers so they used the period to promote organic production. Without export possibilities or a strong local market, however, a local market had to be created, and that's where Terra's came in to help.
The goal of Terra's, an NGO founded in 1990, is to foster the development and improvement of organic farming, processing and marketing in Vojvodina and Yugoslavia. Terra's is also one of two Yugoslavian members of the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM) which consists of some 600 organisations committed to organic farming in over 100 countries throughout the world.
To create the local organic market, a key ingredient was making the public more aware and accepting of organic practices and produce. To this end, Terra's received assistance from the Subotica-based Open University, formerly the Yugoslav Workers' University, created in 1992 to foster civil society and deliver adult education. The University unites several NGOs in Subotica, including Terra's, and provides them with educational support, space for training and events and communications infrastructure.
One current joint activity is the Viva Project which stimulates and spreads awareness of a model of healthy family life, including an understanding of nutrition and organic foods, through workshops at the University. Another is Terra's Bio-School, training future organic producers and experts in producing and monitoring food based on ecological principles.
A mature local organic market also requires suitable economic conditions. Yugoslavian organic producers, however, are forced to sell their produce at the same price as conventional producers, which would be fine, except that organic production is more expensive. Also, wholesalers and retailers can charge more for organic produce but local consumers have reduced purchasing power these days.
One answer, say most producers as well as Terra's, is state support through subsidies or taxes. Horvat also criticises the government's failure to develop a long-term, national strategic plan for both conventional and organic agriculture. "Our organic food market is limited and undefined," she says. Horvat argues that the government is focusing its efforts on the import and export of conventional agricultural products and machines, and not on the development of agriculture in Yugoslavia. Horvat also calls attention to the lack of a national law for organic production. "By delaying the national law on the verification of organic agricultural production, the chances of this production to be a competitive export-oriented project are considerably limited," she says. Without a control system or logo for certified organic products, space is created for consumer speculation and commercial misuse. And that means that anyone can call their products organic.
Many European countries have national regulations for organic production with specific organisations, authorised by IFOAM, monitoring and offering certificates. In Hungary, the Biokultura Association, also approved by IFOAM and the Hungarian government, monitors organic production and the national labelling scheme.
Horvat believes that the key to Yugoslavian economic recovery is increased exports, including Yugoslavian organic exports, especially as they are considered to be of high quality and global demand for organic goods is on the rise. She stresses that organic production proves to be more risk-free than conventional production even under uncertain economic conditions because it requires more labour and is less dependent on exported components.
Horvat is asking the government to direct long-term agricultural development funds to organic production, relieve taxation from organic products, encourage organic export and abolish taxes on imported products not produced in Yugoslavia or which are needed for further domestic processing.
Away from home, she scans the international garden for support in sending Vojvodina organic produce to foreign markets. One step is a plan to get Hungarian Biokultura to certify organic producers in Vojvodina. Another is cooperation with Skal, a Dutch organisation, through which exports of Yugoslavian organic vegetable oils already reach Hungary and Germany. "Of course, it has been very difficult to explain the reasons for the existence of organic food production in a country like Yugoslavia [abroad]," she adds.
Twenty key organic producers around Subotica remain in operation after five years. And large local companies which used to produce only conventional products have begun organic operations (please see story in the Bio-briefs).
In June of this year, Terra's organised the 7th annual IFOAM-CEE conference at the Open University in Subotica, attended by producers from throughout the region including Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Poland and Romania. Linda Bullard, the Vice President of IFOAM, other international organisations and Yugoslavian governmental representatives also attended. Highlights included an exhibition of organic products, visits to local organic farms, a roundtable on marketing organic products in the countries in transition and discussions about improving cooperation between CEE countries and IFOAM.
In conclusion, Subotica's pitch for building organic markets is a model that can serve cultures anywhere in the world, says Horvat. The model also fits well with the goal of most environmental leaders who continue to believe that sustainable agriculture still have a big chance of becoming a reality in the CEE region, by-passing the past agricultural errors of the West. Isn't it ironic, however, that the model was born partly from the fact that the Vojvodina was barred from Western markets?
— by Paul Csagoly
