There will be food, but because of the war in Ukraine, the prices of food products will increase.

Moreover, the situation was complicated even before in the global food supply as a result of climate change and the pandemic.

Agriculture expert Dragi Dimitrievski says that the current situation is certainly worrying, but he estimates that there will be no shortage of food.

"What strikes us and where we must be careful is the price of some agricultural and food products which we do not produce in sufficient quantities and which are imported, while we witness that the prices have seriously increased.

We are dependent on imports for some products, but unfortunately these are the basic food products, mainly wheat (flour), cooking oil, meat (chicken and beef), milk.

But what is positive for us as a country in this crisis, caused above all by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, is that we are not dependent on imports from these destinations.

We mainly import these products from the regional market, first of all from Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Hungary".

Among other things, he says that agricultural production in the country is declining, while yields are low.

"We have a production that, unfortunately, has been decreasing in recent years and, above all, the arable land is decreasing, and not only for the crops I mentioned above, but the number of animals is also decreasing.

All this is the result of more factors, where depopulation stands out, or the departure of young people from rural areas and the abandonment of productive facilities.

As for the yields, we do not have significant changes and they are mostly low", explains university professor of agriculture, Dimitrievski.

He does not expect problems in relation to the import of food.

I estimate that the market will work and we will not have such a situation that we have nowhere to import, although this, of course, will depend first of all on the decisions of the countries from which we import.

Even countries that have a large production of these products must split that production so that their producers are not left without income, and do not have the opportunity to sell their products, considering that it is a matter of term production of limited use, which must be sold, underlines Dimitrievski.

According to him, in such times of crisis, it is necessary to seriously support and promote local production.

From the Federation of Farmers, they say that for years they have been alarming about the various problems of farmers in the country.

The president of the Federation of Macedonian Farmers, Vaska Mojsovska, says that a large part of farmers are reducing their agricultural land areas, because they have higher prices of production compared to those of sale.

"Several times as the Federation we have emphasized this and we will emphasize again that the processing capacities must be developed so that the purchase of local products can be increased with which the local processing of vegetables and fruits must be produced.

This is a really important segment that can promote and help the development of our agriculture.

Special attention should be paid to the improvement and maintenance of agricultural infrastructure in terms of roads, irrigation, and coping with climate change.

At the same time, it is necessary to respect contract production,

which must function according to the Law on Agriculture and Rural Development.

If we don't work on this issue, it is understood that as a country dependent on the import of food products, we will have higher prices or even higher prices of food products, especially those where the consumption is higher, such as bread, milk and meat". emphasizes Mojsovska.

She further adds that it is necessary to strengthen food supply chains from local production.

Business representatives, on the other hand, estimate that local food production is insufficient.

The Chairman of the Chamber of Agriculture at the League of Chambers of Commerce, Groan Gjoegjievski, says that the official statistical data show that in 2021, food products worth 745.4 million euros were imported, which is an annual increase of 12.2 percent compared to the previous year 2020. while the increase in the first five months of this year compared to the same period last year is 17 percent.

"Meat and meat products are mostly imported, followed by vegetables and fruits, then cereals and processed cereals.

When these figures are related to the fact that we have excellent natural and climatic conditions for the development of agriculture,

it becomes clear that the agricultural sector does not receive adequate support from policy makers for growth and development.

Even though there are some positive initiatives and commitments, this support is often not timely and lacks continuity", emphasizes Gjorgjievski.

The country, he adds, will certainly be affected by the global food shortage, but what will be its dimension cannot be said exactly, because it depends on what measures will be taken to reduce the unwanted effects.

For example, if we intend to have organized agricultural production, new support measures for autumn planting should be adopted and should be announced soon.

One of these measures should be the granting of interest-free loans for the purchase of repromaterials.

Discussions are also being held in the framework of the "Open Balkans" initiative to find together ways to face urgent challenges such as the lack of food and energy, he emphasizes.

The Ministry of Agriculture says that in addition to the 400 million denars for the Intervention Fund in agricultural and livestock production, with the last review of the state treasury, additional funds of 500 million denars have been provided for various measures to support autumn planting.

In other words, the National Food Plan has been approved, which contains measures that support strategic products, such as wheat, corn, sunflower, meat.

The intervention fund was 400 million denars and the same has been increased for an additional 500 million denars, where in addition to covering subsidies for these strategic products, it also includes an increase in subsidies in accordance with the increase in production.

The price of oil for farmers is also being subsidized, and artificial fertilizers are being helped, etc.

Consumers in Germany will have to spend more in the coming months when buying food products, because almost all retailers are planning to raise prices again, the IFO institute announced citing research results.

The index measuring price expectations in the food retail sector rose in June to 98.9 from a maximum of 100 points, the German institute said.

Most respondents in other retail sectors also expect higher food prices./Koha.mk/