Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management puts a lot of effort into strengthening resilience of agriculture to natural disasters and management of risks that they bring. Supported by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the European Union, it aims to help farmers to deal with challenges of climate change.
One of the first priorities in this process was defined in an analysis conducted jointly by the Ministry and FAO. The analysis showed that principles such as Disaster Risk Reduction and Management and are referenced in public policies, yet that their implementation in everyday work is limited. To address this, the integration of the principles in the legal framework, strategies and practices is envisaged.
The second priority indicated the need for more efficiency in information exchange between sectors, units and directorates of the Ministry. For this purpose, a working group for climate change has been established and held the first meeting in June 2022, in Belgrade. It gathered representatives from the Ministry and FAO, while its future meetings can be attended by farmers’ representatives, associations, academic community and related experts.
The third priority referred to education and training in climate change. Deeper knowledge in this area would benefit the Ministry, as it is a large institution with diverse mandates. To decide on best approach, the working group analyzed training programmes, considered needs of each sector and came up with the most useful topics. As a result, from the autumn 2022 to the autumn 2023, a series of trainings will be organized to familiarize civil servants with climate change, disaster risk reduction, healthy agriculture soil, sustainable agriculture and further specialized topics.
The working group is established, work plan prepared and the implementation is upcoming, yet one thing is already evident: this approach will contribute to better understanding and adaptation of agricultural policies to climate change. Or to put it differently: it will translate policies into field work.