In the wake of the international food crisis, many countries are paying more attention to food self-sufficiency to protect themselves from instability in the global food markets. Western Balkan ...region and the rest of the world are facing an array of challenges, including inflation and rising food prices. Recognizing the importance of producing sufficient food to cover a country's needs in circumstances of increasing risk of trade disruptions due to war or political tensions, this article aims to find the level of food self-sufficiency in the Western Balkan countries. The self-sufficiency ratio is calculated for different food groups and individual products over a 14-year period (2006-2019) based on the FAO data and calculation method. Also, using panel data, the impact of different factors-arable land, rural population, fertilizers efficiency, temperature change, precipitation, and GDP per capita change-on cereals self-sufficiency is estimated. Results showed that in the covered pre-crisis period, the Western Balkans achieved a satisfactory level of food self-sufficiency, suggesting that the region is ready to respond to future challenges. Four indicators positively and significantly affect cereal self-sufficiency: arable land, rural population, fertilizers efficiency and GDP per capita change, while one indicator-temperature change-had a negative and significant effect. This article can serve as a basis for post-crisis research on the topic.
Countries of Emerging and Developing Europe (EDE) significantly transformed their agri-food sector in the last decades, and it has specific implications for agricultural tendencies and the economy of ...these countries. This research focuses on the sources of growth of agricultural production in countries belonging to EDE, as the former communist countries classified by the International Monetary Fund. This group of countries is particularly interesting because there is room for further growth in agricultural production, which can be crucial in times of crisis. This article's main objective is to estimate agriculture's production function and analyze the relationship between agricultural output and used inputs. Based on data for the period 2008 to 2019, results showed that the increase in the use of mineral fertilizers is a key source of production growth among production factors. Due to the economic importance of fertilizer use and its environmental effect, it can be concluded that agricultural policy must be created carefully in these countries to achieve a balance between economic, social, and environmental goals.
Serbia is a significant producer of tobacco in Europe and the only country in Europe where tobacco production is growing. Due to privatization, some of the most important multinational companies are ...now producing tobacco products in Serbia. Bearing in mind the liberalization of the market and the harmful effect tobacco products have on health, this research tried to analyze the tobacco and tobacco products sector in Serbia. The study’s main goal was to analyze the characteristics of the tobacco and tobacco supply chain in Serbia and determine comparative advantages and levels of integration with the world market. The methodology used in this study included the index of concentration of tobacco manufacturers, followed by a panel regression analysis to determine factors that affected profitability in this industry. Also, foreign trade performances were analyzed using the indices of revealed comparative advantages and integration. The research was conducted for the period from 2013 to the last available year. The results indicate the growth of tobacco production despite the decline in the number of farms, the highly concentrated production of tobacco products, and the significant intensification of foreign trade despite modest comparative advantages.
The purpose of this article is to determine the level of competitiveness of agri-food products in South East European (SEE) countries within the processes of European Union (EU) and regional ...integration as well as to find the factors that determine agri-food competitiveness. This article uses the revealed comparative advantages (RCAs) index to find the level of comparative advantage of agri-food products. Additionally, a model for identifying the determinants of the SEE agri-food comparative advantage was constructed and estimated. The results show that all SEE countries (except for Albania) have comparative advantages in the agri-food sector as part of the global market. Also, the estimation of the model shows that partial productivities in agriculture have a positive impact on comparative advantage while gross domestic product (GDP) per capita has a negative impact. This article makes a useful review of competitiveness of agri-food sector in SEE countries and determines which factors are significant for an RCA index. This is essential for policymakers to identify what determinants improve or degrade competitiveness of the agri-food sector in SEE countries.
European integration encourages rural diversification and innovation, supporting the creation of non-agricultural jobs and strengthening local economies. This scientific paper explores the typology ...of rural areas in Serbia and compares them to rural areas in the European Union. Methodologically, the research leverages multivariate statistical analysis, precisely factor and cluster analysis. The primary objective is to understand these regions’ diversity and commonalities comprehensively. The core focus of this study revolves around the significance of these findings within the context of Serbia’s European integration process. The analysis includes 12 variables that create a model of rurality, i.e., the four dimensions of rurality: level of economic development, structural characteristics of agriculture, demographic structure, and spatial characteristics. Based on the model of rurality, a rural typology is created at the regional level, which records nine statistically significant groups of rural regions in the EU, including Serbia. Cluster 2 includes most of the analyzed territory of Serbia (about 70%), and this group is the most rural, given the negative characteristics of this type of rural area. These results are devastating, and the creators of Serbia’s rural policy must consider the multidimensional nature of rural areas when defining future strategies.
Trade agreements with the European Union (EU) and Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) significantly influenced the liberalisation of agri-food products in Western Balkan (WB) countries. In ...all Western Balkan countries, there has been an intensification of the trade of agri-food products and a partial change in the regional and commodity structures of trade. This paper aims to identify comparative advantages of agri-food sectors and consider its tendencies during the EU integration process. Additionally, this paper will discuss some opportunities for improvement of the export positions of agri-food products. In that context and based on the literature review, the indexes of revealed comparative advantages and its modified version will be used as a main method for analysis in this research. Results showed that all Western Balkan countries, except Albania, have comparative advantages in exporting agri-food products. It is evident that Serbia has the highest level of comparative advantages in this sector. Moreover, this paper suggests that all countries should aim to provide the best possible positions for their agri-food products during pre-accession negotiations for EU membership and take the necessary steps towards increasing the level of competitiveness in the common EU market.
The regional integration with the CEFTA significantly influenced the
liberalisation of the market, which led to an increase in exports of
agri-food products in the Western Balkan economies. The main ...objective of
this paper is to examine the impact of the CEFTA on the export of agrifood
products of Western Balkan economies on the global and regional markets. In
this context, comparative advantages have been analysed, and the gravity
model based on panel data has been estimated. According to the results, all
the Western Balkan economies have comparative advantages in exporting on the
international market. Results of the gravity model estimation showed that
free trade agreements with the CEFTA positively affected the intensification
of agri-food product exports. Western Balkan economies have similar economic
development and competitiveness levels. Thus, reintegrating the market
established by CEFTA affected the export of agri-food products.
The main goal of this paper is to compare the relative technical efficiency of agriculture in Western Balkan countries to those of the European Union and to propose ways to improve the position of ...Western Balkan countries. The group of Western Balkan countries includes Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Albania, which are candidate countries for European Union membership, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is currently a potential candidate. An input-oriented Data Envelopment Analysis model with the variable return to scale was applied to an 11-year period from 2006 to 2016. Input variables used in the model included labour, land, and capital, and the output was presented as the value of agricultural production. The highest average technical efficiency was achieved by the EU15 countries for the entire eleven-year period, while the Western Balkan countries had the lowest score. The source of this inefficiency was identified in lower levels of agricultural performance, e.g. a lower-level use of the primary production factors – labour and land.
Regulatory approvals for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) vary significantly from country to country. Countries in South East Europe (SEE) are no different and have developed their own specific ...regulations for GMOs. Thus, the objective here is to create a GMO regulation index for 6 SEE countries and to consider changes in GMO regulations in countries undergoing the process of EU integration. First, we created a composite index of GMO regulatory restrictiveness. How GMO policies are affected by arable land, rural population, democracy, and GDP, model is assessed using a suitable panel data. The results of our research show significant polarization in legislation among the countries analyzed, a significant effect on restrictive GMO regulation based on the arable land per capita, level of democracy and GDP per capita. Also, the regulation of GMOs in these countries is in the process of being adjusted to EU legislation. Because these countries aspire to become EU member states, a need has emerged for different marketing and communication strategies regarding GMOs.
Due to the environmental radicalization of European politics, which is reflected in the European Green Deal, Farm to Fork strategy, and new CAP 2023–2027, this paper aims to determine the impact of ...agri-environmental indicators on soil productivity based on the land productivity function model. The paper focuses on the Western Balkans countries, which are in the process of European integration and which, in the coming period, need to harmonize their agricultural policy with the CAP. First, the aggregate Cobb–Douglas production function has been used to create a land productivity function. Then, the sources of land productivity growth have been calculated, which can be particularly interesting in the context of agri-environmental indicators, such as fertilizer use and livestock density. The research results showed that land productivity is the most elastic concerning changes in the number of livestock units per hectare. Consequently, reducing livestock units had a markedly negative effect on productivity. In addition, the research results showed that using mineral fertilizers is a crucial source of growth in land productivity in these countries. These results imply that the creators of the agricultural policy must carefully assess the pace at which they will harmonize ecological and economic goals, especially if they take into account the current Ukraine crisis that can disrupt the food market.
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