APD Germany – Western Balkans at the IAMO Forum 2023
On Jun 22, 2023, APD Germany – Western Balkans presented itself at this year's IAMO Forum, whose main theme was "International Agricultural Trade, Geopolitics and Global Food Security". The session of the project, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), was jointly organised by the Regional Rural Development Standing Working Group (SWG) of South Eastern Europe, project implementer on site, and IAK Agrar Consulting GmbH, implementer of the international consulting contribution.
Under the main theme "Crisis-proof food systems in the Western Balkans", analytical work and results carried out within the framework of the APD were presented, which were thematically aligned with the focal topics of this year's forum. Future activities of APD in its efforts to crisis-proof agricultural and food systems in the Western Balkans were also discussed.
The session was moderated by Stanimira Penkova, Team Leader International Consulting at IAK and International Coordinator of the project. In his introductory remarks, Dieter Goertz from the BMEL, among others, referred to the special feature of the APD of involving six countries in the dialogue and also working in seven technical working groups on sub-topics.
The speakers from Germany (BMEL and GFA Consulting Group GmbH), North Macedonia, Albania and the EU spoke on these topics:
- State of the Agricultural Policy Dialogue – Dieter Goertz (BMEL), Dr. Dori Pavloska-Gjorgjieska (SWG), Dr. Tilman Reinhardt (GFA)
- Current Agricultural Policy Developments in the Western Balkan countries – Prof. Aleksandra Martinovska Stojcheska
- State of Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems in the Western Balkans – Ass. Prof. Edvin Zhllima
- Youth and Women in the Western Balkans – Dr. Arjola Arapi-Gjini (IAMO)
- The Western Balkan Soil Partnership – Prof. Pandi Zdruli
- Climate Adaptation in the Western Balkans – Prof. Ordan Cukaliev
In addition, Dr. Olaf Heidelbach from the EU Commission gave an insightful closing presentation on the status quo of the Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Initiatives.