History

History of extension and the enabling environment

Until its independence in 1991, Macedonia was a part of Yugoslavia, which was in the Soviet Bloc. During the Soviet period, Macedonia’s farming sector comprised three main categories: first, small privately owned family farms; second, large state farms, also called as socially owned farms--Agro-Kombinats; and socially owned agricultural enterprises, also called as agriculture cooperatives. There is no evidence of any conventional type of agricultural extension and advisory services being provided to the farmers during that period.

After independence of Macedonia, several donor-funded projects were launched. Specific achievements of the projects and ensuing institution-building may be called as milestones towards the establishment of pluralistic agricultural extension and advisory services in the country. The main projects are summarized below.

Macedonia Private Farmer Support (1996-2002)
The World Bank-financed “Macedonia Private Farmer Support” project was launched in 1996. The objectives of the project were to support the economic transformation process in the agricultural sector, and to improve the production and income of private farmers through the following:

1. Strengthening the provision of technology and information related services to private farmers;
2. Changing the mechanism for providing such services; and
3. Initiating the restructuring of public sector institutions providing such services.

The specific project components were as follows:

1. Agricultural advisory services: Pilot initiatives to develop cost-sharing arrangements with farmer associations, to decentralize extension management, and to strengthen extension capacity.
2. Adaptive research: Support for applied agricultural research through competitively awarded contracts.
3. Private veterinary and animal health services: Support for privatization of veterinary services and development of public epidemiological and quarantine services.
4. Agricultural marketing: Development of a market/news information service and planning work for a private horticultural wholesale market.
5. Rural finance services: To improve access of private farmers to commercial credit.
6. Project preparation facility and management unit.

Upon completion of the project in 2002, the following achievements were reported in a World Bank Implementation Completion Report:

• About 120 local farmers’ associations were established and integrated into seven national commodity associations, four regional associations, and one, apolitical, national apex farmer organization, i.e. Federation of Macedonian Farmers.
• A total of 33 former socially owned veterinary stations were privatized, and 70 additional private veterinary practices were registered.
• A new Epidemiological Unit was successfully established in the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry & Water Economy, with two competent staff trained abroad under the project.
• The market news service, which monitors daily prices in retail and wholesale vegetable, fruit, and livestock markets, was fully funded by the Macedonian Statistical Office. Market prices were being broadcast weekly on national television and plans were in progress for a web-based information service.

A National Extension Agency (NEA) was established by the Law on NEA passed in 1998 in line with the Republic of Macedonia Agricultural Development Strategy 1995-2010. The new institution, which was formed through the merger of previously individual Development Centers, also received support under the World Bank-financed Macedonia Private Farmer Support project, mentioned above. In 2005, the NEA was given substantial autonomy, but still maintaining close relationship with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry & Water Economy.

Agricultural Financial Services Project (2002-2007)
The Agricultural Financial Services Project, financed by the International Fund for International Development (IFAD), was an innovative project for Macedonia. The project, instead of developing public extension and advisory services, focused on the establishment of privately owned, market-oriented consulting companies. According to an IFAD Project Completion Report, an Agricultural Investment Center was set up, which selected a group of potential advisors and trained them in technical and managerial topics. The trained advisors were then required to develop their own service enterprises on a cost-sharing basis with the project. Farmers turned to these advisors to receive support in preparing business plans and loan applications, and to receive follow-up advice related to their investments. The project was gradually phased out and some of the advisors set up fully independent businesses.

As the results show, the total number of borrowers advised by the eight consulting companies was 1,323, for a total disbursed loan amount of €7.4 million. One year after taking a loan, advised processors and rural traders increased the value of their production/trade by an average of 50 per cent, and the value of sales by 35 per cent. Two years after taking the loan, advised borrowers increased their primary production family business by an average of 56 per cent.

Macedonian Agricultural Advisory Support Project (2004-2012)
The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) implemented two phases of the Macedonian Agricultural Advisory Support Project (MAASP). The project, which was aimed at preparing Macedonia to eventual accession to the European Union, encouraged the adoption of a pluralistic advisory services system that involves both public and private service providers. Collaboration between the Swedish and Macedonian universities led to the training of extension professionals. ICT initiatives like Agricultural Information System (AIS), and Agriwise (adjustment of the Swedish farm business software to Macedonian conditions) were also supported. A second phase of the project (MAASP-2) started in 2008 with the overall objective of working on a national basis to support the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry & Water Economy develop a pluralistic agricultural advisory system as a tool for implementing Macedonian agricultural policy during the process of accession to the European Union. The three sub-objectives of MAASP-2 were:

• Consolidation of advisory service reform on a national level.
• Strengthening of selected value chains through increased market orientation in advisory services.
• Enhancing awareness and capacities for poverty alleviation through advisory services for diversified rural development.

In 2007, the government adopted the National Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development 2007 – 2013. The strategy comprised the following five long-term strategic objectives:

• Strengthening the competitiveness of Macedonian agriculture through measures for increasing the efficiency of agricultural production, processing and the marketing of agricultural products, as well as by building effective public and private institutions;
• Improving farm incomes;
• Ensuring that the consumers have access to safe and healthy food;
• Optimal usage of the limited land, forest and water resources, in accordance with the environmental requirements;
• Building rural communities through sustainable rural development.

AgBiz Program (2007-2013)
Although the USAID-funded, “AgBiz Program” was not focused on the development of extension and advisory services per se, yet it made important contribution towards developing value chains, which was of great benefit for the farmers in terms of marketing their produce. The program’s components covered productivity, competitiveness and sales of fresh fruit, and both fresh and processed vegetables, access to finance, organizational capacity building, value chain export strategies, and policy and institutional reform.  The AgBiz Program also cooperated with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry & Water Economy and supported 10 Macedonian companies to participate in Fruit Logistica 2013, the leading international fresh produce fair, held in Berlin, Germany.

Presently, Macedonia has a pluralistic agricultural extension and advisory system involving a number of public and non-public actors who make direct or indirect contribution towards the provision of services to the farmers.

tExtension Provider

Public Institutions

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry & Water Economy
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry & Water Economy has overall responsibility for the provision of agricultural extension and advisory services to the farmers, no matter whether they are provided by public or non-public service providers. The Ministry comprises several departments including one for agriculture and another for rural development. Two of the divisions of the Department of Rural Development are the Division for Sustainable Rural Development, and the Division of Science, Research and Advisory Services. Both of these divisions are involved in advisory service matters.

National Extension Agency (NEA)
The National Extension Agency is a public institution affiliated with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry & Water Economy, but enjoying substantial autonomy. The NEA, whose headquarter is located in Bitola, is responsible for providing extension and advisory service to the Macedonian farmers. NEA’s organizational structure comprises three levels, i.e. Directorate, Regional Centers (6), and Work Units (30). The organizational structure and field activities of the agency are based on specialized sectors of production that include crops cultivation, livestock breeding, vine and fruit growing, vegetable cultivation, and agro-economics. The number of NEA staff in 2009 was 130 out of which 100 were technical advisors. NEA’s funds for staff salaries and basic operations come from the Ministry, but almost all the donor-funded projects in rural and agricultural development in Macedonia have involved and supported NEA in various capacities.

The NEA provides agriculture-related services to meet needs and demands of individual farmers and sole proprietors. In the past, the agency’s primary focus was production, but in view of the trade liberalization policy and for meeting the requirements for accession to the European Union, the NEA is also advising farmers and producers on marketing and quality standards. NEA implements measures in line with the Agriculture Support Development Program and other activities upon the requests received from the Ministry. It maintains and upgrades the Farm Monitoring System – a source of information on profitability and economic efficiency of agricultural production within the advisory service, and also to meet information needs of other interested institutions. NEA organizes farmer field days, and provides technical/economic packages for different agricultural patterns. The agency also organizes training programs and consultations in various specialized areas with the aim of developing technical capacity of its field advisors.

Agricultural Research Institutes
All public research activities including those in agriculture in Macedonia are funded by the Ministry of Science and Education. The country has the following three main agricultural research institutes:

• Institute of Agriculture (conducts research on field crops, vegetables, fruits, orchards, viticulture, etc.; in 2006, the institute created a non-profit organization, called the Foundation Agro-Center for Education (FACE), which is described later in the sub-section of NGOs).
• Institute of Tobacco (best equipped institute) conducts research and plays advisory role through organizing field days on its experimental farms for which invitees include tobacco producers, companies and the members of the Association of Tobacco Growers.
• Institute of Livestock Breeding has introduced electronic marking and tracking system for livestock; conducts research and transfers technologies.

As indicated above, the research institutes are involved in certain technology transfer, training and sporadic advisory activities, but they are not regular advisory services providers for the farmers. Their main mandate remains agricultural research for adapting and/or generating technologies.

Academic institutions
Universities’ main contribution to the advisory services in Macedonia is pre-service education for potential agriculturists, and at times in-service training of the advisory staff. The universities are also engaged in agricultural research, and some of their faculty members occasionally work as advisors. Higher education in agricultural disciplines is offered in Macedonia at the following institutions:

• Ss.Cyril and Methodius University
  The first state university in Macedonia; established in 1949  located in Skopje and has Faculty of Agriculture and Food, Faculty of Forestry and Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, all located in Skopje.
• University St. Kliment Ohridski (UKLO)
  Located in Bitola and has Faculty of Biotechnology.
• Tetovo State University
  Located in Tetovo and has a Center for Polytechnic Studies.
• University Goce Delcev
  Located in Ship and founded in 2007; which has Faculty of Agriculture (separate departments for agro management, processing of agricultural produce, and integrated agricultural production) and a Faculty of Natural and Technical Sciences; which has 12 extension staff in 2009.

Non-Public Institutions

Private sector
Among other factors, small size and fragmentation of farms, and difficult access to credit has hindered the development of commercial agriculture in Macedonia. Some donor-funded projects like the Agricultural Financial Services Project (IFAD), Macedonia Private Farmer Support (World Bank), Macedonian Agricultural Advisory Support Project (SIDA) and AgBiz Program (USAID) have supported the creation of a private, commercial type agricultural sector. An Agricultural Investment Center and some private market-oriented consulting companies, mainly individual-owned enterprises, were established under the IFAD project. However, the progress towards developing a vibrant, private commercial agriculture remains modest. Presently, main private actors in agricultural business are agricultural food processors and farm input providers, who play very limited advisory role while promoting their products. Although a private sector is emerging in the area of extension and advisory services, yet it is still in infancy phase.

Examples of private Macedonian agricultural companies: The companies that were financially supported by the USAID’s AgBiz Program to participate in an international agricultural fair held in Berlin included Turan, GD Tikves, Agrolozar, Permindeks, Ksenos, Eko Oaza Samandov, AgroKalem, Zito, Fruta Grozd and Badzo. Other agricultural companies whose staff was sent to Israel for short agricultural training in 2010 also under the AgBiz Program included Goce Delchev Tikves, Peca Komerc, Dusan Chirich, Grkov, Winery and Vivi Prom.

Non-governmental organizations
Civil society organizations (CSOs) including NGOs have been evolving in Macedonia since the collapse of communism, thanks due to government steps like the Law of the CSO (1998), State fund for direct support to CSO (2002), Law for donations and sponsorships related to CSOs (2006), and Established code for good practice for financial support of CSOs (2007). The number of registered NGOs in Macedonia in 2009 was about 6,000, with most of them located in urban areas, but only half of them were considered as operational. While these NGOs perform useful work in their own right, there is little evidence of NGOs’ significant involvement in extension and advisory services. Some of the farmers’ associations that have been registered as NGOs seem to be active in advisory work, while some have been involved in rural development activities under donor-financed projects. A few examples of relevant NGOs are as follows:

• NGOs Association for Sustainable Development and Cooperation (ALKA)
• NGO “Woman-to-Woman” (Kvinna-till-Kvinna)
• Foundation Agro-Center for Education (FACE)
  Created by the Institute of Agriculture (at Skopje) in 2006; two main areas of work include new themes in curricula for agricultural education,  and linkages between education and research; focuses on a number of issues including the relationship of agricultural education and training to extension; main target groups are extension advisors, farmers, food industry managers, agricultural graduates, private advisors and NGOs’ experts; training topics include adult learning methodologies under the training-of-trainers program, good agricultural practices, first aid in agriculture, entrepreneurship skills for private advisors, technical training for the National Extension Agency advisors in the implementation of the National Rural Development Program.
• Association for Rural Development (JAVOR)
  Founded in 1997 as ecological society; located in the Municipality of Zrnovei; implemented projects in areas of ecology, sustainable development, organic agriculture, rural tourism, and renewable energy sources.
• Ecologists’ Movement of Macedonia (DEM)
  A national association comprising 23 local environmental NGOs; established in 1990; main goals are to raise public awareness concerning environmental protection, sustainable development, and preservation of nature at the lowest level of destruction.
• Youth Alliance: Established in 1998 and located in Tetovo.
• Sunrise
  Located in Sveti Nikole and advocates local environmental action; has an environmental plan that specifies affordable, realistic actions to improve drinking water quantity and quality, reduce water pollution, promote clean, organic food production, plant trees and grow forests, and develop long-term solutions for solid waste; received support from the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC) –an American NGO with an office in Skopje.
• Rural Development Network of the Republic of Macedonia (RDN of RM)
  It is a union of civil associations, established in 2010. Based in Skopje, the RDN is more of a movement than an NGO, organized at the national level to provide a voice for rural communities in Macedonia. The aim of the RDN is to demonstrate a structured approach in mobilizing rural communities to become stronger agents of local development and participate in rural policy formulation at local, regional, national and EU levels. The work of RDN follows the LEADER (acronym for the French wording Liaison Entre Actions de Developpement de Economie Rurale, meaning Links between Actions of Rural Development) approach. RDN’s six priority areas for action include: (i) LEADER activities in creation of links at local level; (ii) Women economic empowerment in rural areas; (iii) Agriculture and forestry—the backbone of the rural area; (iv) Cultural heritage as tool for development of rural areas through promotion of rural tourism; (v) Sustainable management of the environment; (vi) Diversification of economic activities in rural areas. The RDN has been involved since 2012 in the implementation of the USAID-funded Adaptation to Climate Change in Agriculture Project.

Farmers-based associations, cooperatives and societies
The establishment of farmers’ associations in Macedonia became intensive after 1999 when the Law on Association of Citizens and Foundations was adopted. By 2005, the country had more than 300 farmers’ associations. Most of the associations are commodity-specific (such as milk, grape, livestock, bee keeping, goats, rabbits, poultry, vegetables and crops), and are engaged in several activities including distribution of inputs obtained from foreign donors, provision of farm inputs, vocational training, workshops, seminars, study tours and demonstration trials. Some of them have also experimented with private extension. Starting 1999, ACDI/VOCA, an American consulting firm, implemented a USAID-funded “Macedonia Agricultural Association Support Project”. The project assisted agricultural associations in the development of high-value member services in exchange for association income.

A few examples of farmers’ associations in Macedonia are as follows:

• Association of Agricultural Producers
  Located in the town of Pehcevo, eastern Macedonia; has received support from an American NGO -- the Institute for Sustainable Communities; membership comprises 84 agricultural producers; provides useful knowledge to its members through regular bulletins, training, technical assistance, lectures, workshops, daily consultation and connections with different agriculturists; was involved in a World Bank-funded experiment on new cutting and pruning methods to increase plum production.
• Federation of Farmers in the Republic of Macedonian (FFRM)
  Founded in 2002; based in Kavadarci; has been receiving financial and technical assistance from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) for more than 10 years; also supported by GIZ; membership comprises more than 90 farmers’ associations; had 13 extension staff in 2009 and activities include: safeguarding of farmers’ economic, social and cultural interests; lobbying; improving production and marketing conditions; coordination among farmers’ associations; representation of farmers at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry & Water Economy and other government organizations; issuing of informative bulletins; maintenance of a web page; study tours; and cooperation with the Federation of Swedish Farmers; maintains Young Farmers’ Network (started in 2007) and Women Farmers’ Network (started in 2005), consisting of FFRM members.
• Macedonian Association of Processors (MAP)
  Established in 2002 under the USAID-funded AgBiz Program; members include individuals and organizations active in fruit and vegetable processing industry; activities include organizing joint purchase of raw materials; participation in meetings of the processing industry in Macedonia; creating an environment for joint export by members in  order to meet larger demands from foreign buyers; ascertaining HACCP and ISO standards through coordination of members’ activities; distributing information such as on marketing trends, EU regulations and target markets; enhancing cooperation with farmers’ associations; cooperation with relevant public and private institutions, business community and international projects; and establishing business linkages with domestic and foreign associations.
• Association of Fish Producers
• Macedonian Federation of Organic Producers (BIOSAN)
  Represents the interests of organic farmers; finds market for organic products; provides advisory service; promotes organic farming in the country; has links with the Swiss Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FIBL) that provides advisory services to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry & Water Economy on regulations for organic agriculture.
• Farmers’ Associations in Horticulture
  Three associations established with the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO):
  • AGROS Kocani had 190 member farmers from 10 villages in 2004.
  • AGRO-MERIS v. Studenicani, Skopje had 80 member farmers from two villages in 2004.
  • AGRO-RECICA v. Recica, Kumanovo had 24 member farmers from the same village in 2004.

Regarding agricultural cooperatives, a survey of 240 cooperatives conducted in 1997 revealed that 100 of them had ceased business, 45 were going under bankruptcy procedure, 60 were more or less struggling for continuation with 1 to 30 employees, and only 35 had retained some land assets and were active in agricultural production. In 2002, a new Law on Cooperatives was passed for re-registration of agricultural cooperatives. The same year, a protocol was signed for transferring irrigation management duties from Water User Associations to the Water User Cooperatives.

• Macedonian Union of Agricultural Cooperatives (MUAC): Established in Skopje in 2012, comprising long existing and new cooperatives; objectives include institutional representation of its members, as well as information provision to the members regarding economic growth and marketing.
• Alliance of Cooperatives in Macedonia (AKOM): Founded in 2007 and registered as NGO; unites, represents and serves trade and producer cooperatives in the country; and has about 20 member cooperatives from various regions.

List of Extension Providers

 The following list shows an excerpt from the GFRAS Directory of Extension Providers for Macedonia. Some of these entries may be specially marked for having more detailed information in the database of the Worldwide Extension Study WWES.

Training

Training options for extension professionals

Pre-service education in various agriculture related disciplines may be pursued at the following institutions, which have also been listed in a previous section:

• Ss.Cyril and Methodius University
• University St. Kliment Ohridski
• University Goce Delcev
• Tetovo State University only for studies in polytechnics.
• Agricultural secondary schools for field technicians; located in at least 10 towns.
• Secondary vocational education and training schools for field technicians; according to 2004/2005 data, there were 2,722 schools that offered education in agriculture, 1,267 schools in veterinary, 1,885 schools in food production and 411 schools in forestry.

For in-service training, the following organizations may be approached:

• Above mentioned universities (some of them may be offering short training courses on regular basis; for others, special arrangements will need to be made, depending on specific training needs).
• Research institutes such as Institute of Agriculture, Institute of Tobacco, and Institute of Livestock Breeding, mentioned in an earlier section.
• Foundation Agro-Center for Education (FACE), located within the Institute of Agriculture in Skopje.
• Any donor-funded projects on rural and agricultural development having funds for capacity building of nationals.
• Secondary vocational education and training schools for field level, practical training in skills development.
• Agricultural secondary schools for field technicians.

ICT

Info-mediaries and information and communication technology (ict) for agriculture and extension

The ICT sector in Macedonia has been growing. Presently, at least five state universities and seven private universities have faculties such as electric engineering and information technologies, computer science, informatics, and ICT. According to the World Bank, in 2012, the number of mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) in Macedonia was 108.16. During the same year, the number of Internet users (per 100 people) in the country was 63.14. Several laws on ICT sector have been adopted.

The institutions responsible for the development and regulation of the TCT sector include Ministry of Information Society, Ministry of Transport and Communications, Committee for Information Technology, Agency for Electronic Communications of the Republic of Macedonia, Broadcasting Council of the Republic of Macedonia, and Macedonian Academic & Research Network (MARnet).

Macedonia also has a number of ICT associations such as ICT Chamber of Commerce (MASIT), Economic Chamber of Macedonia/IT Association–Macedonian Association of the IT Companies, Macedonian e-Society Association (MESA), e-Gov Project www.egov.org.mk, and Foundation for Sustainable ICT Solutions “Metamorphosis”.

The ICT use in the agricultural sector and particularly in extension and advisory services is sporadic at best, and remains far from satisfactory. Although staff of the National Extension Agency was given computers under a World Bank project, yet their use has been minimal. Also, donor agencies/organizations such as USAID, EU, GIZ, and SIDA have tried to establish a viable ICT-based comprehensive agricultural market information system, but the progress has been limited. A lot of communication and exchange of information remains paper-based. As recently as 2013, at the UN Broadband Commission meeting in New York, Intel, Grameen and the Minister of Communications of Macedonia signed a memorandum of understanding, aimed at bringing the power of state-of-the-art computing technology to agricultural communities in Macedonia.

Resources

Resources and references

Agency for Foreign Investments and Export Promotion of the Republic of Macedonia (no date; probably 2011). Agriculture and Agri-processing Industry in the Republic of Macedonia

Agency for Foreign Investments and Export Promotion of the Republic of Macedonia (no date). Information and Communications Technology Sector in the Republic of Macedonia

ARCOTRASS (December 2006). The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: Country Report (Study on the State of Agriculture in Five Applicant Countries, financed by the European Union)

Dimitrievski, D., N. Georgiev, A. Simonovska, A.M. Stojceska, and A. Kotevska (2010). Review of Agriculture and Agricultural Policy in FYR Macedonia. Chapter 6 in Tina Volk (Ed.). Agriculture in the Western Balkan Countries; Pp. 145-154. Halle (Saale): Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Central and Eastern Europe (IAMO)

Djordjevic-Milosevic (no date). Recent Developments in Rural Extension in the Western Balkans; PowerPoint presentation. Available at: www.wbren.org/.../SUZANA-Recent%20developments%20in%20rural%

European Center SN7 & Center for Education and Development – CED (2012). NGO Magazine (Issue No. 5/December 2012

FAO (2005). Macedonian Agricultural Research and Extension System: Country Report. Available at: www.fao.org/nr/res/wshops/docs/ws1_report_Macedonia_en.pdf

FAO (no date). ICT Needs for Improved Agriculture in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Gorton, M., J. Sauer, M. Peshevski, D. Bosev, D. Shekerinov, and S. Quarrie (2009). Water Communities in the Republic of Macedonia: An Empirical Analysis of Membership Satisfaction and Payment Behavior. Contributed paper prepared for presentation at the International Association of Agricultural Economists Conference, Beijing, China; August 16-22, 2009

IFAD (no date). IFAD and Client-Financed Agricultural Advisory Services

Republic of Macedonia (2004). Farmers Associations in Macedonia. PowerPoint presentation made at the WB-CEI-FAO Workshop, Sarajevo; May 24-27, 2004

Republic of Macedonia (November 2012). National Program for Agriculture and Rural Development 2007-2013 (Fourth Modification); EU Instrument for Pre-Accession for Rural Development (IPARD)

Republic of Macedonia (no date). Third Sector in Republic of Macedonia. PowerPoint presentation

SIDA (2007). SIDA Country Report 2007: Macedonia

Tesler, G. (October 2012). Macedonia-Israel Agriculture Project- Seed and Seedling

Wilhelm, D. (May 2002). Shaping Peaceful Change; A Field Report on Building Civil Society in Macedonia. Skopje: Institute for Sustainable Communities (ICS) Macedonia

World Bank (2013). Implementation Completion Report Review: Macedonia Private Farmer Support

World Bank (October 2013). Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: Analysis of the Agricultural Support Programs