Agriculture in Post-War Bosnia and Herzegovina: Social Buffer vs. Development

This paper draws attention to the specific post-civil-war situation in agriculture and the food sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H). These developments are presented in an association with the overall situation in the country. Due to economic and non-economic reasons, B&H faces a general problem of a lack of international competitiveness. In a current situation, there are rare products to be internationally competitive and the country relies on imports of food and other products. During the post-civil-war emergency and reconstruction stage, the bulk of food and agricultural inputs, were donated or granted by different governments, humanitarian organizations, and donors to mitigate the effects of widespread poverty caused by the war destructions and economic declines. During a development stage, recovery in the agricultural sector is burdened by the considerable lack of international competitiveness in food processing and marketing as well as by several sectors, institutional, and general economic problems. The rate of unemployment in B&H is high, and agricultural households are the important units providing food security for rural populations and relatives living in towns. Nevertheless, around half of agricultural land resources are unutilised, and even more striking is the "illegally occupied" agricultural land, which is one of the most significant in the structure of land leasing arrangements.