Transition and Multifunctional Agriculture in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Multifunctional Agriculture In The Federation Of Bosnia And Herzegovina

During second half of 20^th century, rural area of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina was shaped on paradigm of city - village confrontation, industrialization and de-agrarisation, public and private ownership, big agricultural households and small agricultural households. That paradigm excluded, in other words, anticipated integrated and multi-sector complementary development with the city. That created pauperized rural potentials which are hardening implementation of new economically sustainable model of rural development. But, seeing rural area as one specific form of social and economic community embedded in one particular space, it is possible to identify its resources and advantages which have to be integrally valuated and improved to reach economic sustainable development. Rural development policies should not be considered as the part of agricultural policy, in other words agricultural policy is just one of the elements of integral rural development policy. Therefore, support to agricultural production will not assure quality of rural development, while quality multi-sector rural development can assure survival and raise of quality agricultural sector. International experience shows that successful local communities are the ones who manage to preserve its ambience and at the same time to achieve creative adaptation to extreme changes (Zmaić, Petrač, & Sudarić, 2009).

Rural development policy therefore, has to lead towards several basic criteria’s: territorial approach instead of sector approach, stirring networking and forming cooperative relationships, concentrating on collective efficiency instead on individual, multi-sector approach to integral development, stirring development “down” on endogenous resources, preserving local identity and social capital, stirring innovation and promoting completion with quality instead with quantity.