Rural development

As part of the call for support for local initiatives of the Farm to fork Fund, 8 projects were selected for support.

Selected associations and local action groups will implement planned activities within their projects in a period of 6 to 9 months, contributing to changes in agricultural practices and rural development.

The following organizations were selected:

•    Association Fenomena from Kraljevo
•    Eco center from Belgrade
•    Association for the Preservation of Tradition "Višnja" from Niš

The Network for Rural Development of Serbia, in continuation of the consultative process with actors in the value chain of the wine sector, organized the third consultative meeting on November 26, 2024. in Kruševac.

In the introductory part, the participants were introduced to the principles of green agriculture and the EU strategy "From the field to the table" and then had the opportunity to participate in a participatory way in the preparation of the value chain analysis, SWOT analysis, and the definition of possible solutions and recommendations.

Vegetable production plays a significant role for small farmers in the protected area of the "Golija" Nature Park, primarily in the production of potatoes. Bearing in mind the above, as well as the fact that the Network for Rural Development of Serbia, on the basis of a developed methodology, chose the value chain of vegetable growing as one of the two chains for which a consultative process will be carried out with the aim of assessing the state and prospects for its development.

The Network for Rural Development of Serbia, in the continuation of the consultative process with actors in the value chain of the wine sector, continued to assess the situation in the value chain with small wine producers and other actors.

The second consultative meeting was held on November 23, 2024. in Paraćin. The participants, together with the representatives of the Network, conducted a value chain analysis, a SWOT analysis, along with the definition of possible solutions and recommendations.

Vegetable production in certain regions of Serbia plays a significant role for small farmers, so the Network for Rural Development of Serbia, based on a developed methodology, chose this value chain as one of the two chains for which a consultative process will be carried out with the aim of assessing the state and prospects for its development . The target group are small producers who are engaged in the primary production of vegetables, and a smaller part in their processing into traditional products, such as ajvar.

Based on the developed methodology, the Network for Rural Development of Serbia has chosen the value chain of the wine sector as one of the two chains for which the consultative process will be carried out, with the aim of assessing the state and prospects for the development of this value chain. Small wine producers were defined as the target group, and the wine sector was assessed as one of the sectors that has the potential to attract young farmers to engage in it.

The Network for Rural Development of Serbia realized a two-day national training on agroecology from October 30th to 1st November 2024 in Topola. The participants had the opportunity to learn about the circular economy, as well as its implementation in agriculture, as well as climate change trends and the mutual impact of climate change on agriculture and vice versa.

There were 17 participants from all over Serbia at the training.

Participants also had the opportunity to meet local grape and wine producers and exchange experiences on sustainable agriculture.

The Network for Rural Development of Serbia realized a two-day national training on agroecology from October 21st to 23th 2024 in Crni vrh on Stara planina. The participants had the opportunity to learn about organic production in various branches of agriculture, as well as biological methods in agricultural production.

There were 17 participants from all over Serbia at the training.

The training is the third in a series of 4 planned trainings at the national level.

Within the framework of the regional project “Farm to Fork Academy for Green Western Balkans – Our shared European future”, funded by European Commission, the Farm to Fork Academy is being launched (Fact sheet of the project:

The Network for Rural Development of Serbia realized a two-day national training on agroecology from 24 - 26.7.2024 in Crni vrh on Stara planinina. Participants had the opportunity to learn about the following topics: