The FBiH Deputy Prime Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry Jerko Ivanković Lijanović held a meeting in Sarajevo with delegates from the IFAD Mission, Department of Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia and led by Director Khalida Bouzar.
The IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development-A specialized agency of the UN) as an investment and coordination body of the UN in BIH, has been present in BiH for many years and has projects worth over 170 million US dollars.
The reason for the delgation’s visit to BiH is to define strategies for the improvement of agricultural production and inspection of the implementation and effects of previous projects.
“We are currently speaking about the new operation of IFAD, which is worth 26 million KM for the project. It will be implemented in the FBiH and the RS. I am very satisfied with the projects that are currently underway, because we already have a measurable effect on the ground. We can say that we have succeeded in increasing livestock production by more than 200 percent, and the yield per liter of milk has increased by 60 percent’’, said the Director of IFAD Khalida Bouzar.
She said that with the support of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, they have succeeded in increasing dairy by 300 percent. As a result, she is very satisfied with the relationship and cooperation of the Ministry.
Bouzar spoke of the part of the mission in the RS that is necessary for a better overall image throughout BiH as a strategy that should cover BiH from 2013-2018.
Minister Ivanković Lijanović said that with the Director of IFAD they have agreed to apply for new projects in BiH agricultural production in the amount of 12.700.000 US dollars, as well as joint development of new strategies to support BiH.
“So far the implementation of IFAD funds through commercial banks has been too costly for BiH farmers, so we decided that we could look for lower interest rates and services. The aim is for our manufacturers have cheaper means to be competitive in production’’, said the Deputy Prime Minister Jerko Ivanković Lijanović.
