EU experts criticize state management of agriculture in Azerbaijan

Baku/07.12.22/Turan: For effective management of agriculture, Azerbaijan needs new laws for the mechanism of stimulation of small and minor farms; VAT issues; monitoring and proper state regulation," said Jacek Wesierski, an expert of the RBIS project in Azerbaijan.

On December 6, Baku hosted the final presentation of an information and analytical website for farmers RBIS.az , created by EU experts with the participation of the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Agriculture of Azerbaijan. The presentation was the final event of the EU project "Support for creation of business information system in rural areas".

Note that RBİS is the Rural Business İnformation System

Added to this can be that more than 80% of agricultural producers are small farms.

In order to attract Azerbaijani farmers to digital business management and modern agricultural technologies, they should be involved in trainings and consultations. At that, schemes of agricultural loans and mortgages should be developed in Azerbaijan, EU expert Vesyersky believes.

He analyzed the data of the Statistical Committee of Azerbaijan from 1991 to 2020 and found that the annual production in the meat and dairy sector rose by 2.8 times. But since the self-sufficiency of the national product in the country is 81%, there is an opportunity to grow by another 19% for sale of these products in the domestic market. For this to happen, it is necessary to stimulate domestic producers and processing industries, import highly productive animal breeds into the country with their subsequent acclimatization," the expert said.

"Azerbaijani agriculture is characterized by a discrepancy between subsidies from various departments. A subsidy coordination program is needed. There is a low level of education among farmers, there is no coordination and association of agricultural producers, there is no cooperation and organization between them," the expert noted.

Speaking at the presentation of the completion of the RBIS project, the head of the EU Cooperation Department, Victor Giner, said that a share of agriculture in the total volume of Azerbaijani production is small – 6%, which means a huge opportunity for the growth of the agricultural sector in the country.

The disadvantage is the fragmentation, disunity of about 1.1 million agricultural producers – owners of small and minor farms. They have limited access to the supply, sales and investment market. When it comes to the public administration of the agricultural sector, it is important to achieve transparency," the expert added.

Since 2016, Azerbaijan has started registering farms to include them in digital regulation within the framework of the "Electronic Government" program. Giner believes that the coverage of the farmers' registration process should be expanded.

On March 14, 2018, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on measures for the development of the electronic government and the transition to digital government.—0—