Agriculture Census project in the Republic of Kosovo, which started on November 1st, until now has been completed around 85%.

The fieldwork hasn’t stall in any difficulty, and the households, i.e. majority of them have responded with full readiness to Agriculture Census Project.

 

The officials of Kosovo Agency of Statistics (KAS), today in a press conference, in the municipality of Vushtrri, introduced the current flow of Agriculture Census in the Republic of Kosovo. In municipality of Vushtrri, so far have been enumerated 90 per cent of agriculture households. 

 

Chief Executive Officer of Kosovo Agency of Statistics, Isa Krasniqi said that “currently the feasibility of this project is 80 to 85 percent ". Once again, he pointed out that the only problem remains four municipalities in northern Kosovo, which to date haven’t responded to Agriculture Census project. According to him, the working process in 34 Kosovo municipalities is going as expected by the Agency, and the project will be completed within the time set, i.e. on 20 November this year. 

 

About four municipalities in the north, Krasniqi said that on the 10th of this month, we have urged for the last time the mayors of these municipalities to participate in Agriculture Census, but we have not received any response. Thus, according to him, the remaining days are considered to be insufficient to start census in these municipalities.

 

While, the mayor of Vushtrri municipality, Bajram Mulaku said that the municipality is abundant with agricultural land, therefore he highly appreciated the Agriculture Census project. He stressed that 90 percent of agricultural households in the municipality he leads have responded to this project. Also, he said that "there are households who have not responded to this project with justification that so far they have received no subsidy for their businesses."

 

However, on the occasion of this press conference, he urged the residents of this area to respond to Agriculture Census, adding that by responding to Agriculture Census, agriculture households and agriculture businesses will have better references when applying for subsidies from municipality, Government, or any external donor.

The host from agriculture household, which deals with cultivation of potatoes Mr. Zymer Merovci, said that "we support this process, which is in our benefit, and he appealed to those who have been reluctant, to support this process."

 

Additionally, Agriculture Census project is funded by the Government of Kosovo and various donors, such as: the European Union Office in Kosovo, Development Union - Embassy of Sweden - SIDA, the Government of the United Kingdom - DFID, the Swiss Cooperation Office, the Government of Denmark and the Embassy of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.This fund is called the Trust Fund and it is managed by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS.) The total cost of the project is around 4.7 million Euros. 2.2 million Euros have left over from the Population Census.  While the rest 2.5 million Euros is funded by the Government of Kosovo and the donors. This cost covers the period 2012-2015.