November 11, 2018 - The Ministry of Agriculture and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will invest approximately 13.5 million euros in the support and development of rural areas in seven municipalities in Northern Montenegro in the next six years. The idea is to keep the population in the countryside through the improvement of agriculture and infrastructure.
That life in the country in the 21st century is very difficult is known well by Mileva Matovic from Velimlja, who was very happy to hear that she will not pass through bumpy roads on her way home anymore. She believes that new asphalt brings better days for her family and locals in this region.
"These were channels that were not possible to pass by car. And one could not pick up their child when it’s raining, when it's snowing, when it's bad weather. So, it means a lot to us," says Matovic.
The meat industry in Miljanic is also looking forward to the renovation and asphalting of roads. This factory built in the anhydrous spa area feeds 50 families and repurchases virtually everything that locals produce from these areas.
"Unfortunately, the infrastructure has been poor so far. Every meter of paved roads means something, and we hope for a solution to the water supply in the future as it would be of great importance for this region," says Pero Miljanic, the owner of the meat industry Miljanic.
Through the Cluster Development Project and the Transformation of Rural Communities, which the ministries and IFAD implement in seven Montenegrin municipalities, about 13.5 million euros will be invested in the next six-year period for the improvement of agricultural production, and the development of road and water infrastructure.
"We associate smaller agriculturist manufacturers, we create better market conditions with suppliers, traders, with providers of certain services in the form of storage, transport, to the final buyer. The idea is to place the emphasis on a smaller agricultural producer in this value chain in order to make it competitive. Returning to the village and retaining the existing population is actually the essence of a project whose benefits will be valuable to everyone.
There have been cases recently that a couple of households have returned to live here, so with the solid infrastructure, we believe that this number would increase," Miljanic said. The project plans to build about 70 kilometers of rural roads and around thirty water supply facilities.
Text by TVCG/Portal RTCG, on November 10th 2018, read more at CdM
