World Soil Day, December 5, was marked on Thursday at the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina with a symposium on the topic “Soil as a factor in the development of agriculture and environmental protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, organized by the Commission for Agriculture and Rural Development of ANUBiH, in cooperation with the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science of the University of Sarajevo.
This year’s theme of World Soil Day is “Healthy Soils for Healthy Cities” and is a strong reminder that without preserved soil there is no food, no sustainable communities, and no security for future generations.
During the symposium, key issues of land management in Bosnia and Herzegovina were raised – from its degradation and neglect, through urbanization and concreting, to the lack of a clear and long-term land policy.
The worrying data was also presented, that more than two billion hectares of land (twice the area of China) are currently degraded in the world. In the last 50 years, the need for animal products has increased significantly, and with it the area for agricultural land use by about 65 percent.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has about 1.7 million hectares of arable land, but only about 1.15 million hectares are actually used for production, while a significant part of the land is completely out of function. The average area of an agricultural farm is only 2.44 hectares, which clearly indicates the extreme fragmentation of land holdings.
At the same time, estimates show that BiH currently produces only about 23 percent of food for its own needs.
In the global context, it has been warned that more than 30 percent of the world’s soil is in a state of degradation, while by 2050, almost 10 billion people are expected on the planet and the need to increase food production by as much as 50 percent is needed. This is precisely why the issue of soil is no longer just an agricultural issue, but a matter of survival.
The President of the Commission for Agriculture and Rural Development, corresponding member of ANUBiH, Prof. Dr. Hamid Čustović, emphasized that land in BiH must be approached as a strategic resource.
“We cannot produce food without soil. Regardless of all technologies, there is no safe food production without healthy soil. Agrarian policy cannot be reduced to subsidies only, it must have a developmental and long-term character,” warned Čustović.
Serious systemic problems were also pointed out by the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food, UNSA, prof. Ph.D. Muhamed Brka, pointing out that land in BiH is being treated extremely irresponsibly.
“We concrete the most fertile areas, and at the same time we import more than 70 percent of meat and a large part of food. The question arises – where will we produce food tomorrow? What will people who will live more and more in cities in the future live on?,” said Brka.
He particularly warned about the decline of young people’s interest in agricultural studies and the complete mismatch of education with the needs of practice. Although faculties offer cooperation to the economy and the inclusion of experts from the real sector in the teaching process, such cooperation is still lacking.
“We have projects, we have knowledge, we have smart solutions, but without system support they remain in the drawers,” said Brka.
As one of the positive steps forward, the new master’s program in land management was highlighted, launched precisely on the initiative of academician Čustović, with the aim of creating professional staff who will be able to respond to increasingly complex challenges in the field of agriculture and soil protection in the future.
The conclusion of the symposium was clear: without an organized cadastre, consolidation of estates, investment in irrigation, digitization and smart agriculture, and a stronger role of science and profession in creating policies – Bosnia and Herzegovina can hardly ensure food security and sustainable development.
This is precisely why this year’s World Soil Day in Sarajevo was marked not only symbolically, but with a strong warning message: healthy soils are the foundation of healthy cities, but also a healthy country.
This year’s symposium brought together eminent experts from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region, and it is planned that the papers will be reviewed and published in the form of the Proceedings of ANUBiH in printed and electronic form in 2026, so that they can be available to the wider public, ANUBiH announced.
