FAO helps farmers to recover from flood damage:Hardest hit municipalities and farming households in Serbia will benefit from FAO assistance to recover from damage caused by natural disasters

29 February 2024, Belgrade – Floods last year in Serbia hit hard 56 municipalities, predominantly located in central and south Serbia, causing extensive damage to both infrastructure and agricultural lands. Over 1600 infrastructure facilities, services and installations were damaged, and approximately 18 000 hectares of land – and even crops – were flooded, causing an estimated damage to agricultural crops of approximately EUR 10 million. Many smallholder farmers engaged in labour-intensive production who are particularly vulnerable to natural disasters, were directly impacted by the floods. 

To provide necessary support to agricultural communities and families facing hardship, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), under the Technical Assistance Programme for Emergency Response and in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of the Republic of Serbia, stepped in to help farmers recover from flood damage and rebuild their livelihoods. Starting from Wednesday next week, the first group of 222 farming households, from seven municipalities that have been the most affected, will receive vouchers for the acquisition of agricultural goods and inputs. The farming households are in Ćuprija, Ražanj, Varvarin, Ćićevac, Kuršumlija, Brus and Trstenik.

The vouchers will enable vulnerable farmers to purchase goods and inputs for agricultural production, including seeds, planting material, fertilizers, small agricultural tools and equipment, spare parts, and materials for the repair of agricultural machinery. FAO has partnered with 13 local stores to implement the first phase of voucher redemption.

In collaboration with local municipalities, FAO will actively oversee the voucher redemption and provide technical assistance to the affected farmers on how to improve their resilience to climate change with the adoption of good agricultural practices.