JapJanse_MAFRD_-_JJ_-_Final_Report_to_USAID.pdf

FEBRUARY 2012

This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by Tetra Tech ARD.

KOSOVO NEW

OPPORTUNITIES FOR

AGRICULTURE PROGRAM

STRENGTHENING THE ADVISORY AND TECHNICAL

SERVICES OF THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE,

FORESTRY AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (MAFRD) BY

REORGANIZATION OF ITS LABORATORIES

KOSOVO NOA: BERRY SECTOR TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE REPORT 3

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my sincere thanks to his Excellency Mr. Blerand Stavileci, Minister of MAFRD for the possibility, excellent assistance, open information exchange and hospitality offered at his Ministry during my mission. Without the excellent support from Mr. Greg Vaut, Senior Technical Advisor to the Minister, MAFRD via NOA, Mrs. Nysrete Doda-Gashi, advisor to the Minister, Plant production and protection, Mr. Shaban Dreshaj, Chief of the Advisory Services, Mr. Behlul Behluli, Advisor to the Minister for Livestock Production and the excellent translation by Mr. Inan Mahmuti, this mission could not have been possible. Thanks also to the central and local office of NOA, Tetra Tech ARD (in particular Mrs. Claudia LaLumia and Mr. Martin Wood, respectively) for excellent and friendly organization of the mission. Thanks to all colleagues of MAFRD, NOA and Kos-Agri, EU Office and GIZ and others for hospitality and friendship!

This report was prepared by the New Opportunities for Agriculture project team of Tetra Tech ARD based on a Final Report prepared by: Dr. Jaap D. Janse, Department of Laboratory Methods and Diagnostics, Dutch General Inspection Service, The Netherlands.

USAID Contact Information:

USAID/Kosovo Office of Economic Growth: Timothy Hammann, Senior Economic Growth Advisor, thammann@usaid.gov

Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative: Besa Ilazi, Office of Economic Growth, bilazi@usaid.gov

NOA Contact Information:

Chief of Party: Martin Wood, New Opportunities for Agriculture, Kosovo mjbwood@noakos.com

Senior Technical Advisor/Manager: Claudia LaLumia, Associate, Tetra Tech ARD, claudia.lalumia@tetratech.com

Study Supervisor: Greg Vaut, Senior Advisor to the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development and Senior Associate, Kosovo, greg.vaut@rks-gov.net

Author: Dr. Jaap D. Janse, Department of Laboratory Methods and Diagnostics, Dutch General Inspection Service, The Netherlands, jjanse@nak.nl

Prepared for the United States Agency for International Development, USAID Contract Number EDH-I-00-05-00006-00, TO AID-167-TO-11-0000, Kosovo New Opportunities for Agriculture Program, under the Rural and Agricultural Incomes with a Sustainable Environment (RAISE Plus) Indefinite Quantity Contract (IQC).

Implemented by:

Tetra Tech ARD 159 Bank St., Suite 300 Burlington, VT 05401

KOSOVO NEW

OPPORTUNITIES FOR

AGRICULTURE

PROGRAM

STRENGTHENING THE ADVISORY AND

TECHNICAL SERVICES OF THE MINISTRY

OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND RURAL

DEVELOPMENT (MAFRD) BY

REORGANIZATION OF ITS LABORATORIES

FEBRUARY 2012

DISCLAIMER

The authors’ views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government.

KOSOVO NOA: STRENGTHENING THE ADVISORY AND TECHNICAL SERVICES OF THE MAFRD i

CONTENTS

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................. iii

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1.0 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

2.0 OBJECTIVES OF THE MISSION AND ACTIVITIES DURING MISSION

3.0 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

4.0 SPECIFIC OBSERVATIONS

5.0 GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS

6.0 CRITERIA FOR A NATIONAL REFERENCE LABORATORY

7.0 SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS AND ACTIVITIES PROPOSED

7.1 KIA

7.2 KFVA

7.3 IVE

7.4 KCLB

7.5 KFI

8.0 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND MAIN CONSTRAINTS

LIST OF ANNEXES

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 – Agricultural Land Use in Kosovo, 2009

Table 2 – Data on Livestock in Kosovo (2008)

Table 3 – Principal Kosovo Laws of Importance to the Activities Described in this Report

Table 4 – Proposal for number of qualified staff to be appointed as foreseen in reorganization/restructuring

Table 5 – Indicative Activity Plan and Timetable for Repositioning and Restructuring MAFRD Laboratories

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1– Visit to Kosovo Institute of Agriculture (KIA), Peja. Analytical laboratory (soil analysis, pesticides)

Figure 2 – Visit to KIA, phytopathology/bacteriology laboratory (pesticides) Figure 3 – Visit to Kosovo Center for Livestock Breeding (KCLB), Peja Figure 4 – Visit to KCLB, insemination laboratory Figure 5– Visit to Visit to Institute for Viticulture and Enology (IVE), Rahovec. Wine testing laboratory Figure 6 – Visit to IVE. Organoleptic laboratory Figure 7 – Visit to Kosovo Food and Veterinary Agency, Pristina. Microbiological laboratory Figure 8 – Visit to KFVA, Pristina. Serological Laboratory Figure 9 – Visit to Faculty of Agriculture, University of Pristina (FAUP), Pristina. Microbiology

Laboratory Figure 10 – Visit to FAUP. Chemistry Laboratory Figure 11 – Visit to fruit grower, Peja. Grafting of fruit trees Figure 12 – Visit to Vegetable producer, Peja. Storage of cabbage and onion Figure 13 – Institute Reporting Relationships Before and After Proposed Restructuring ii KOSOVO NOA: STRENGTHENING THE ADVISORY AND TECHNICAL SERVICES OF THE MAFRD

Figure 14 – Flow Diagram Proposed Restructuring with Explanation Figure 15 – Proposed Reorganization of the Agricultural Extension Service. February 2012

KOSOVO NOA: STRENGTHENING THE ADVISORY AND TECHNICAL SERVICES OF THE MAFRD iii

ACRONYMS AND

ABBREVIATIONS

ARDP Agriculture and Rural Development Plan (2007-2013 and 2009-2013)

ATSD Proposed (in this report) new Advisory and Technical (lab) Services Directorate of

MAFRD

BIP Border inspections post

CIHEAM Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranées, Bari, Italy

ECLO European Commission Liaison Office

EPPO European Plant protection Organization

EU European Union

FAUP Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary, University of Pristina, Pristina, Kosovo

IPH Institute of Public Health, Ministry of Public Health, Pristina, Kosovo

IPPC International Plant protection Convention

ISO International organization for standardization

ISPM International Phytosanitary Measure

ISTA International Seed Testing Association

IVE Institute for Viticulture and Enology, Rahovec, Kosovo

KFI Kosovo Forestry Institute, Peja, Kosovo

KIA Kosovo Institute of Agriculture

KCLB Kosovo Centre for Livestock breeding, Peja, Kosovo

KFVA Kosovo Food and Veterinary Agency, Pristina, Kosovo

KSDP Kosovo Development Strategy Plan

MAFRD Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development

NGO Nongovernmental organization

NOA New Opportunities for Agriculture

NRL National reference laboratory

PRA Pest Risk Assessment

KOSOVO NOA: STRENGTHENING THE ADVISORY AND TECHNICAL SERVICES OF THE MAFRD 1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report reflects the results of a mission that was part of an ongoing comprehensive situation analysis and information needs assessment started by MAFRD in Kosovo, with the support of USAID/Kosovo through the New Opportunities for Agriculture Program (NOA), to support the development of the field extension capacity of MAFRD’s Agricultural Advisory Services and strengthen and functionalize the agricultural institutes belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and rural Development (MAFRD). 1

The main aim of this activity of USAID is to realign agricultural institutes more closely to the Ministry’s current extension strategy and priorities, namely 1) integrating them into a delivering modern technology and technological services to their clients (field advisors, producers, agribusiness and inspection services) and 2) concentrate more on diagnostic services, applied research and demonstration in support of their main advisory and diagnostic roles (for a flow diagram of overall proposed structure, see page 47). To that end an assessment was made of all laboratories involved (that included visits to the laboratories and visits to clients).

The laboratories involved/visited are:

a) Under MAFRD

- Kosovo Institute of Agriculture (KIA) at Peja,

- Institute for Viticulture and Enology (IVE) at Rahovec,

- Kosovo Forestry Institute (KFI) included in the Kosovo Forestry Agency, Peja

- Kosovo Centre for Livestock Breeding (KCLB) at Peja – now an association;

b) Under Prime Minister’s Office

- Kosovo Food and Veterinary Agency (KFVA) laboratories in Pristina

c) Under Ministry of Education

- Faculty of Agriculture, University of Pristina (FAUP),

d) Under Ministry of Public Health

- Institute of Public Health (IPH), Food safety laboratories and

e) Private Laboratories, two laboratories were visited.

Due to weak financial position and knowledge of farmers and poor functioning extension services, supporting laboratories of institutes and inspection services, quality in agriculture and agricultural products is poor and is not competitive in exports. Moreover also due to a weak inspection regime, basic material of lower quality can relatively easily enter the Kosovo agricultural system. This leads to many problems from pests and diseases, aggravated by lack of cultivation knowledge (e.g. soil preparation, pesticide usage) of farmers and a poorly functioning monitoring, surveying activity and information sharing from the governmental side. Moreover lab/advisory service and diagnoses are sometimes so poor that producers prefer to send samples and seek advice abroad. The situation is also deplorable in forestry for similar reasons, leading to increased occurrence of (untreated) pests and diseases. Deforestation (illegal wood cutting), fires, and neglect of forest stands also play a role.

1 For an organigram of MAFRD see Annex 1, for a preliminary flow diagram on restructuring of the Field Advisory Services see Annex 2.

2 KOSOVO NOA: STRENGTHENING THE ADVISORY AND TECHNICAL SERVICES OF THE MAFRD

To tackle these problems the new Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development (DAFRD, formed by the UNMIK administration in 2002)2 launched and enforced the so called “Agricultural and Rural Development Plan for Kosovo” (ARDP) 2007-2013 at the end of 2006, with an update in 2009. The two main objectives of ARDP 2009-13 are to:

1. Restructure Kosovo agri-rural sector in line with that of the EU, so that it can fulfill its obligations in this sector when it becomes a member of the EU; and

2. Improve the standard of living of the rural population (including reducing poverty, where it exists): narrowing urban and rural disparities, providing increasing support to less favored areas, and narrowing disparities between Kosovo and the EU.

Much has already been achieved:

Legislation is mostly in place and for a larger part harmonized with EU legislation; and

Institutes have partially restored and equipped, mainly with donor aid from USAID, the Italian Kos-Agri project (CIHEAM, Bari, Italy), Swiss InterCooperation, GIZ, and others.

However, there is still

a) Severe lack of focus on applied research and diagnostic service to support agricultural advisory services;

b) Lack of competent and adequately trained staff for labs (due in part to a weak education system in the Agricultural University);

c) Lack of actual data on the occurrence of (quarantine) pests and diseases; and

d) Weak border inspection and registration/certification systems.

The outcome of the mission is a set of general and specific (per institute, laboratory) observations and recommendations, where the essence will be a reorganization of MAFRD laboratories in a newly formed Advisory and Technical Services Directorate together with a reorganized Advisory Service (see Organigram, page 27) where the laboratory services can better serve their clients in a way as formulated above. Moreover suggestions for repositioning of inspection services is proposed to increase concerted actions of inspection, sampling, monitoring and surveying. Positioning of KIA (and preferably also KFVA) as National Reference Laboratory (NRL) is therefore also proposed (see Criteria for NRL, page 31). An NRL is responsible for diagnosis of quarantine pests and diseases, represents the country for method standardization and import/export conflicts and Plant health organizations at an (jnter) national level. An indicative Activity Plan (Table 5, page 37) for the proposed changes is provided. Moreover, to assist implementing MAFRD new strategy on advisory and inspection services, staff members of MAFRD were assisted in developing a fiche to obtain IPA EU funds (twinning project) during the mission.

The main observations, recommendations and conclusions of this Technical Mission on possibilities for restructuring and reorganization of MAFRD institute laboratories KIA, KFVA, KCLB, IVE and FI, to have them better serve the Field Extension Directorate of the new Agricultural Extension Service, plant and veterinary quarantine needs, and producers (agribusiness and farmers) are:

1. The conditions of the Institute laboratories are very diverse and vary from excellent (KFVA) to virtually inexistent (FI) and are generally understaffed and technical staff is underpaid.

2. Phytopathology and quarantine are weakly developed and inadequate in KIA, IVE and FI.

2 The full Ministry (MAFRD) was established in February 2008 at the independence of the Republic of Kosovo.

KOSOVO NOA: STRENGTHENING THE ADVISORY AND TECHNICAL SERVICES OF THE MAFRD 3

3. Plant Quarantine inspectors are placed under the Kosovo Food and Veterinary Agency.

There is no Chief Inspector and no or only very little surveying and monitoring, border sampling for (plant) quarantine pests and diseases. These are critical needs.

4. There is little cooperation or interaction between the various labs, extension advisors and inspectors and producers; the diagnoses of problems are sometimes poorly substantiated, which has led to a loss of credibility for the institutes as currently operated.

5. Therefore time to reorient the MAFRD strategy toward developing centers of excellence and national reference laboratories, better serving Kosovo agriculture.

6. In all institutes there is definitely a basis and will for change.

7. On the basis of very good and open interviews, information was obtained with which it is thought necessary and feasible to propose the creation of a new Advisory and Technical (lab) Services Directorate and a new Inspectorate with a Chief Inspector in MAFRD, eventually repositioning of KFVA under MAFRD and positioning of KFVA and KIA as National Reference laboratories (NRL’s). See Summary Diagram, page 27. This proposal includes:

– Formation of new Advisory and Technical Services Directorate (Director and deputy, assistant and secretary (number of staff to be determined)

– Formation of a new Inspectorate with Chief Inspector comprising the veterinary and plant health inspectors, placed outside KFVA and instructed by Policy department MAFRD (number of new staff to be determined) with adequate training provided

– Staffing and equipping laboratories (see Table 4, page 36) for overall estimate

– Staffing of diagnostic departments at KIA with competent and sufficiently trained experts and assistants: Bacteriology, Entomology, Nematology and Virology and possibly Herbology (11 new staff)

– refurbishing some institutes (KIA, KFI), and have quality and safety systems implemented so that they can function as NRL (KIA and KVFA)

– installment and operationalization of state of the art equipment, especially those for molecular biology, for adequate diagnoses of (quarantine) pests and diseases at KIA and partly also KVFA

– Starting application for accreditation according to ISO 17025 (KIA, KFVA, IVE) and have quality managers appointed (3 new staff)

– formation of specialized (advisory) teams in the wine and vegetable area as advisor (4 staff) and laboratory experts (4 new staff) and at in forestry at KFI (6 new staff)

– Placement of weather disease stations at IVE and KIA linked to disease and irrigation prognosis (number of new staff to be determined)

8. Refurbishment of labs is (for staff safety and NRL function) mandatory and should be marked as a Ministerial responsibility, using its (increased) capital investment budget

9. Restructuring the advisory service and plant health and quarantine department would greatly benefit from an EU Twinning project. MAFRD prepared a fiche for such a project at the time of this mission and it was subsequently submitted to ECLO.

10. Also, on the basis of the information mentioned above, an Indicative Activity Plan and Timetable (Table 5, page 37) have been provided

11. Much more (detailed) work and firm steps by the Ministry are needed to get change started.

Actually carrying out the proposed changes; and ensuring the sustainability thereof are strongly dependent on the solution of the following main constraints:

4 KOSOVO NOA: STRENGTHENING THE ADVISORY AND TECHNICAL SERVICES OF THE MAFRD

If revenues of testing laboratories (KFVA, KIA, Wine Institute) are not returned to the Institute due to inflexibility in budgets and expenditures, and the payment of low salaries for technical staff persist it will be virtually impossible to attract and competitively pay and retain critical skilled staff (staffing and keeping skilled staff and keeping motivation of skilled staff one of the foremost problems in adequate operation of the laboratories).

At the same time and for the same reason, the guarantee of the adequate and timely procurement of consumables will continue to be impossible as it is now. This makes it extremely difficult or impossible for the institutes to react adequately in the case of outbreaks of new (quarantine) diseases or situations such as the recent land contamination scare.

KOSOVO NOA: STRENGTHENING THE ADVISORY AND TECHNICAL SERVICES OF THE MAFRD 5

1.0 INTRODUCTION AND

BACKGROUND

This report reflects the results of a mission that was part of an ongoing comprehensive situation analysis and information needs assessment started by MAFRD in Kosovo, with the support of USAID/Kosovo through the New Opportunities for Agriculture Program (NOA), to support the development of the field extension capacity of MAFRD’s Agricultural Advisory Services and strengthen and functionalize the agricultural institutes belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and rural Development (MAFRD).3 The main aim of this activity of USAID is to realign agricultural institutes more closely to the Ministry’s current extension strategy and priorities, namely

1) integrating them into a delivering modern technology and technological services to their clients (field advisors, producers, agribusiness and inspection services) and 2) concentrate more on diagnostic services, applied research and demonstration in support of their main advisory and diagnostic roles. To that end an assessment was made of all laboratories involved (that included visits to the laboratories and visits to clients).

The mission was requested by Mr. Greg Vaut, Senior Technical Advisor to the Minister (MAFRD) via NOA and USAID, at the end of December 2011 and organized through the NOA central and regional Kosovo office on short notice during the second half of January 2012.

The laboratories involved are: a) Under MAFRD - Kosovo Institute of Agriculture (KIA) at Peja, Institute for Viticulture and Enology (IVE) at Rahovec, Kosovo Forestry institute (KFI) included in the Kosovo Forestry Agency, Peja, Kosovo Centre for Livestock Breeding (KCLB) at Peja – now an association; b) Under Prime Minister’s Office - Kosovo Food and Veterinary Agency (KFVA) laboratories in Pristina c) under Ministry of Education - Faculty of Agriculture, University of Pristina (FAUP), d) under Ministry of Public Health – Institute of Public health (IPH), Food safety laboratories and e) Private Laboratories, two laboratories were visited.

The outcome is a set of general and specific (per institute, laboratory) )observations and recommendations, where the essence will be a reorganization of MAFRD laboratories in a newly formed Advisory and Technical Services Directorate (see Organigram, page 27), where the laboratory services can better serve their clients in a way as formulated above. Moreover suggestions for repositioning of inspection services is proposed to increase concerted actions of inspection, sampling, monitoring and surveying. Positioning of KIA (and preferably also KFVA) as national reference Laboratory (NRL) is therefore also proposed. An indicative Activity Plan and timetable (Table 5, page 37) are provided. Moreover, to assist implementing MAFRD new strategy on advisory and inspection services, staff members of MAFRD were assisted in developing a fiche to obtain IPA EU funds (twinning project) during the mission.

In order to place the new strategy of MAFRD and the activities of the mission in perspective, a few details on Kosovar agriculture are presented.

Kosovo is a small country, landlocked, in the middle of the Balkans. It has two main agri-ecological areas determined by climate, soils and vegetation, viz.

a) The southwestern Dukagjini plain has a relatively mild, more Mediterranean climate and annual rainfall of 770 mm; the most common crops are alfalfa, maize, sugar beet, grapes and vegetables, all of which require irrigation during a large part of the year; and

3 For an organogram of MAFRD see Annex 1, for a preliminary flow diagram on restructuring of the Field Advisory Services see Annex 2.

6 KOSOVO NOA: STRENGTHENING THE ADVISORY AND TECHNICAL SERVICES OF THE MAFRD

b) The eastern part called Iber Lepenc, with a more continental climate and annual rainfall of 600 mm, also very dependent on irrigation. About 53 % of total area of Kosovo is used for agriculture, ca 41% for forestry land.

The present agricultural land use and livestock production are shown in Table 1, page7 and

, page 8.

Kosovo became part of the former Republic of Yugoslavia in 1945. In Yugoslavia, agriculture and forestry were organized in the larger scale socialistic kolkhoz-type system. Some of the current agricultural institutes mentioned in this report had their roots in this system, with well trained staff and extensive facilities and research. Agriculture and also the Institutes suffered a severe set-back (sometimes to practical disappearance) during the war of 1998-1999. Facilities and equipment were demolished; ethnic Albanian staff was forced to leave their positions or the country. After 1999 a gradual build up has taken place of both agriculture and the institutes. Hindered however by the fragmentation of land (90% of farms have an average of only 2 ha of land), poor financial position, low salaries, brain drain and competition from neighboring countries, especially Macedonia, Turkey and Serbia, progress on rebuilding has been slow. Due to weak financial position and knowledge of farmers and poor functioning extension services, supporting laboratories of institutes and inspection services, quality in agriculture and agricultural products is poor and is not competitive in exports.

Moreover also due to a weak inspection regime, basic material of lower quality can relatively easily enter the Kosovo agricultural system. This leads to many problems from pests and diseases, aggravated by lack of cultivation knowledge (e.g. soil preparation, pesticide usage) of farmers and a poorly functioning monitoring, surveying activity and information sharing from the governmental side. Moreover lab/advisory service and diagnoses are sometimes so poor that producers prefer to send samples and seek advice abroad. The situation is also deplorable in forestry for similar reasons, leading to increased occurrence of (untreated) pests and diseases. Deforestation (illegal wood cutting), fires, and neglect of forest stands also play a role.

To tackle these problems the new Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development (DAFRD, formed by the UNMIK administration in 2002)4 launched and enforced the so called “Agricultural and Rural Development Plan for Kosovo” (ARDP) 2007-2013 at the end of 2006, with an update in 2009. The two main objectives of ARDP 2009-13 are to:

a) Restructure Kosovo agri-rural sector in line with that of the EU, so that it can fulfill its obligations in this sector when it becomes a member of the EU; and

b) Improve the standard of living of the rural population (including reducing poverty, where it exists): narrowing urban and rural disparities, providing increasing support to less favored areas, and narrowing disparities between Kosovo and the EU.

Some of the actions foreseen and described in the 2009-2013 ARDP are to:

Create a framework for respective institutions (certification bodies, laboratories etc.) being recognized and operating across borders;

Support this through consultancy, exchange visit to EU laboratories in the region (Bulgaria), and experience from Macedonia in the process of building a Food Safety Agency;

Strengthen the Rozhaje Border Inspection Post (BIP);

Develop cooperation between support services: veterinary, phytosanitary and agriculture extension;

Improve disease control and phytosanitary controls; and

4 The full Ministry (MAFRD) was established in February 2008 at the independence of the Republic of Kosovo.

KOSOVO NOA: STRENGTHENING THE ADVISORY AND TECHNICAL SERVICES OF THE MAFRD 7

Share information intraregionally to prevent the spread of diseases of plants, animals and humans.

The ARDP therefore already clearly addressed many of the issues on strengthening the advisory services, inspection services and agricultural institutes described in this mission report. Moreover, another important objective in the ARDP is further harmonization with and eventual accession to the

EU.

Much has already been achieved:

Legislation is mostly in place and for a larger part harmonized with EU legislation (see for laws Table 3, page 9); and

Institutes have partially restored and equipped, mainly with donor aid from USAID, the Italian Kos-Agri project (CIHEAM, Bari, Italy), Swiss InterCooperation, GIZ, and others.

However, there is still a severe lack of focus on applied research and diagnostic service to support agricultural advisory services; a lack of competent and adequately trained staff for labs (due in part to a weak education system in the Agricultural University); a lack of actual data on the occurrence of (quarantine) pests and diseases; and weak border inspection and registration/certification systems.

MAFRD framed this mission described in this report in order to enhance the generation and exchange of information through better cooperation between institute labs themselves; between the institutes and the agricultural advisors and inspectors; and between the institutes and the university. The results, when implemented, should lead to improved management, control (over institutions and over problems), and better inter-institutional coordination, and, therefore, better services to Kosovo farmers and a better competitiveness for Kosovo agriculture.

Reports quoted and used for information:

World Bank. November 2007, “Integrating Environment into Agriculture and Forestry Progress and Prospects in Eastern Europe and Central Asia”. Volume II, KOSOVO Review, 13 pp.

MAFRD (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Rural Development). 2009 (update of 2006), “Agricultural Master Plan Kosovo. The Rural Development Context of Kosovo: Agricultural and Rural Development Plan for Kosovo, 2007-2013” (ARDP), 326 pp.

Kos-Agri Project. October 2010,”Strengthening the Kosovo MAFRD for the Improvement of the Fruits & Vegetables Production According to EU Standards (November 2010-October 2013).”

Global Work Plan, CIHEAM, Bari, Italy, 77 pp.

Table 1 – Agricultural Land Use in Kosovo, 20094 Crops Area (ha) Production (tons)5 Yield (t/ha) Cereals 119,984

1. Wheat 77,938 271,373 3,616

2. Rye 394 834 2,360

3. Barley 1,642 5,121 2,835

4. Barley for beer 75 242 3,325

5. Oat 4,081 7,774 1,906

6. Maize 19,149 66.608 3,501

7. Maize/mixed crop 16,705 59,256 3,801

Vegetables 15,837

8. Potato 3,376 58,678 19,062

9. Tomato 821 15,107 24,484

10. Eggplant 5 64 15,287

11. Pepper 2,955 46,669 18.009

12. Pumpkin 102 1,496 16,329

13. Pumpkin (mixed 884 5,694 8,290

5 Metric tons = 1,000 kilograms = 2,204 pounds.

8 KOSOVO NOA: STRENGTHENING THE ADVISORY AND TECHNICAL SERVICES OF THE MAFRD

Table 1 – Agricultural Land Use in Kosovo, 20094 crop)

14. Mushroom 1 6 10,000

15. Cucumber 316 7,199 37,030

16. Water melon 954 18,896 19,616

17. Melon 118 1,318 14,482

18. Cabbage 962 27,895 26,378

19. Cauliflower 12 218 17,848

20. Spinach 50 280 7,175

21. Lettuce 37 549 10,925

22. Beetroot 5 65 11,666

23. Parsley 8 52 6,860

24. Leek 62 814 15,142

25. Onion 798 8,697 12,633

26. Radish 3 18 7,016

27. Garlic 97 456 5,205

28. Bean 221 455 2,647

29. Bean (mixed crop) 3,891 6,684 2,485

30. Peas 33 80 2,951

31. Other leguminous crops

11 49 4,700

32. Carrots 43 352 11,160 Fruits 5,096 Fodder Crops 104,763 Meadow 98,369 Pasture 3,894 Forestry 10,887 km2

Table 2 – Data on Livestock in Kosovo (2008)6 Livestock products Number of households Average value/HH in euro

Total value in euro

Cattle (incl. 412 buffalo), 56% dairy cows, 1.07 dairy cow per household

341,608

Pigs 26,770 Sheep and goats 180,128 Horses and donkeys 5,301 Poultry 2,213,40 beehives 43,297 Meat 1,956 1,192 2, 33,355 Milk 16,720 1 256 20,995,562 Cheese 10,066 504 5,074,205 Fat (grease) 1,281 268 343,865 Other dairy products 4,581 323 1,480,329 Eggs 1,545 899 1,389,706 Honey 1,070 896 958,723 Other products 1,774 319 565,918 Total 38 993 850 33 139 663

6 Source: MAFRD.

KOSOVO NOA: STRENGTHENING THE ADVISORY AND TECHNICAL SERVICES OF THE MAFRD 9

Table 3 – Principal Kosovo Laws of Importance to the Activities Described in this Report4 Law Status

Law on agriculture inspection No. 03/L-029, promulgated by Decree No. DL065-2008 on 13 December 2008

In operation

Law on Protection of Plant Products, No. 03/L- 042 07, promulgated by Decree No. DL-061- 2008 on 27 November 2008

In operation

Law on Plant Protection in Kosovo, No. 02/L-95, promulgated by UNMIK Regulation 2007/6 on 31 January 2007

In amendment and now in procedure to be approved, in this law a list of quarantine organisms will be included

Law on Veterinary, No. 2004/21, promulgated by UNMIK Regulation No 2004/28 on 30 July 2004

In operation

Law on Genetically Modified Organisms, No.

03/L-028 (Passed first reading in the assembly on 29 February 2008)

In operation

KOSOVO NOA: STRENGTHENING THE ADVISORY AND TECHNICAL SERVICES OF THE MAFRD 11

2.0 OBJECTIVES OF THE

MISSION AND

ACTIVITIES DURING

MISSION

This mission was part of a comprehensive situation analysis and information needs assessment started by MAFRD in Kosovo, with the support of USAID/Kosovo through the New Opportunities for Agriculture Program (NOA), to support the development of the field extension capacity of MAFRD’s Agricultural Advisory Services and strengthen and functionalize the agricultural institutes belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and rural Development (MAFRD). 7

The main aim of this activity of USAID is to realign agricultural institutes more closely to the Ministry’s current extension strategy and priorities by:

Holding the institutes responsible for delivering technology and technical (laboratory) services to the field advisory service agents, producers, agribusiness, MAFRD itself (plant/animal quarantine inspections, monitoring and surveying), and other potential clients such as university faculties.

Requiring the institutes to concentrate on diagnostic services, applied research and demonstration in support of their main advisory and diagnostic roles.

Integrating the Institute laboratories with the Advisory service into one organizational unit

The overall objectives of the mission, therefore, were:

a) Assess the projected demand for laboratory and analytical services within MAFRD (including the new agricultural extension service), as well as among potential external clients;

b) Identify the nature and scale of the analytical resources (technical and human) currently available among four institutes and related institutes outside MAFRD to meet that demand; and

c) Develop an action plan and, if possible, an estimated budget for MAFRD’s consideration and implementation.

The above mentioned objectives were achieved via the following mission activities in a three week visit (January 16 to February 3, 2012):

Review of current laboratories of MAFRD and of related institutions (such as Kosovo Food and Veterinary Agency (KFVA), the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Pristina (FAUP), Institute of Public Health, Food Safety laboratories and some private laboratories;

Interviews of target client groups: farmers/growers, extension services, agri- and food businesses, KFVA, and FAUP; and

Meetings with MAFRD and donor officials from Kos-Agri (Italian), EU, GIZ, NOA (USAID) and InterCooperation (Swiss).

7 For an organogram of MAFRD see Annex 1, page 45, for a preliminary flow diagram on restructuring of the Field Advisory

Services see Annex 2, page 46.

12 KOSOVO NOA: STRENGTHENING THE ADVISORY AND TECHNICAL SERVICES OF THE MAFRD

The mission was requested by Mr. Greg Vaut, Senior Technical Advisor to the Minister (MAFRD) via NOA and USAID, at the end of December 2011 and organized through the NOA central and regional Kosovo office (Mrs. Claudia LaLumia and Mr. Martin Wood, respectively) on short notice during the second half of January 2012. The terms of reference (TOR) for this mission can be found in Annex 3, page 49. An itinerary with institutions visited and persons met is provided in Annex 4, page 51.

During the mission full, excellent and indispensable support was received from Mr. Greg Vaut, ;

Mrs. Nysrete Doda-Gashi, Advisor to the Minister for plant production and protection; Mr. Shaban Dreshaj, Chief of Advisory Services; and Mr. Behlul Behluli, Advisor to the Minister for Livestock Production. Moreover, the Directors of KIA, KFVA and IVE provided excellent support in providing data on their institutes. Detailed information on these institutes and the proposed reorganization/restructuring issues are presented in Annex 5-7, pages 57, 65, 70.

The institutions involved in this analysis were:

Under MAFRD

1. Kosovo Institute of Agriculture (KIA) at Peja

2. Institute for Viticulture and Enology (IVE) at Rahovec

3. Kosovo Forestry institute (KFI) included in the Kosovo Forestry Agency, Peja

4. Kosovo Centre for Livestock Breeding (KCLB) at Peja – now an association

Under Prime Minister’s Office

5. Kosovo Food and Veterinary Agency (KFVA) laboratories in Pristina

Under Ministry of Public Health

6. Institute of Public health, Food safety Laboratories

Under Ministry of Education

7. Faculty of Agriculture, University of Pristina (FAUP)

Private Laboratories

8. Two laboratories were visited (see Annex 3, page 49)

Instead of giving extensive descriptions of the Institutes and laboratories involved, I present general and specific observations and recommendations for them in Chapter 5 and 6 that will result in the Activity Plan, presented in chapter 7.

Furthermore I provide concrete proposal for changes in organization, structure, staffing and necessary skills, equipment, and laboratory facilities (summarized in the Organigram on page 27) that are not only conceptually attractive, but will actually (with the help and commitment of all stakeholders) be realizable in practice, and which will give the laboratories and institutes sustainable potential to serve producers, advisors and the plant health inspectorate and thus serve agriculture and the national economy.

For that reason also a number of stakeholders (agribusinesses, processing industry, growers, the veterinary chamber, and donors) were interviewed. Their visions on the possible position and services of the institutes and laboratories have been taken into account in the preparation of this report. On the basis of information received it can be stated that in the past years the Ministry Institutes, as well as some private laboratories seem to have lost credibility due to sometimes defective and even totally wrong diagnoses of problems and therefore failing remedies. The consequence is that clever private enterprises have learned to seek out more expert and reliable laboratories abroad (Macedonia, Slovenia, other EU countries).

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Fortunately this is still not a regular practice – so time remains for a change to Kosovo national centers of excellence (government institutes and university). In general, stakeholders do not object to the introduction of (low) fees for laboratory services, so the time seems also ripe for such a (small) change, recognizing that the majority of Kosovo producers are smallholders (average 2ha) who cannot pay heavy fees from one day to another.

Due to time limitations and first ideas on restructuring presented in this report, I have, in agreement with Greg Vaut, not prepared a draft budget. At this stage it is virtually impossible to do so. Some details on the actual budgets of the institutes can be found in Annex 5-7, pages 57, 35, 70.

After this visit and report, much work still has to be done (e.g. detailed activity plan for each institute, budgeting) and a second mission filling in gaps and rendering the road map more concrete is therefore anticipated by USAID.

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3.0 GENERAL

OBSERVATIONS

1.1 All institutes/laboratories mentioned under Section 2 (above) are severely understaffed and under budgeted for their (new) roles. The infrastructure of the laboratories (except those of KFVA) are insufficient (especially in respect of laboratory quality, safety and quarantine).

Note: This situation leads to poor services to clients and isolated positions of institutes, also concerning serving the MAFRD policy department and inspection services with data from failing (field) diagnostic activities, monitoring and surveying

1.2 The appointment and retention of trained and experienced staff is a severe problem due to:

Weak education system at Agricultural University, Pristina

Low salaries under the national Civil Service salary structure (an MSc irrespective of years of service and experience earns ca 350 euro/month);

Lack of incentives for the future (so-called trap-positions); and

Weak leadership.

1.3 Revenues of fee based testing activities are not (yet) available for institutes and budgets and expenditures are apparently inflexible – timely procurement of consumable lab materials and competitive salaries are therefore impossible.

Caution: In case of an emergency outbreak of a quarantine disease this lack of flexibility in budgeting and spending would lead to insufficient capacity to react by the Government due to lack or too late arrival of consumable lab materials necessary for rapid and reliable diagnosis/identification procedures and response as well a shortage of trained staff to operate the necessary sophisticated equipment.

1.4 FAUP poorly serves institutes: departments often have only very basic facilities and equipment, are understaffed, and when suitable equipment is present, it is often not in operation.

Note: Although it is true (and a wise decision) that due to lack of sufficient academic staff and education means PhD students are sent abroad and educational programs are only for BSC and MSC levels, still these lower level programs should provide students with the necessary knowledge and skills to participate in state of the art scientific research methodology (applied and fundamental). The programs cannot do this adequately at present.

1.5 In the other institutes new equipment was often found not or hardly in operation, again due to lack of skilled staff and/or consumable constraints

1.6 University professors opt sometimes for spending time doing routine testing for external clients: this activity is far from the core business of the University and tends to distract faculty and staff from their teaching and fundamental research responsibilities – University professors also sometimes operate private testing labs ,and in this case compete unfairly with services provided by other institutes (public or private).

1.7 The effect of situations/activities mentioned under 1.2-1.6 is a brain drain from the university and the institutes

16 KOSOVO NOA: STRENGTHENING THE ADVISORY AND TECHNICAL SERVICES OF THE MAFRD

1.8 Cooperation between the MAFRD institutes, with institutes of other Ministries and with FAUP is weak, absent or entangled in competence quarrels.

1.9 KIA analytic and seed departments, KFVA, the IVE enology and viticulture departments, and KCLB all have some skilled, motivated staff with dedication, vision and working hard, serving farmers and industry, though underpaid.

Note: This dedicated staff is mainly responsible for the (little) credibility that remains for the laboratories

1.10 The institutes (except KFVA and IPH labs) have very little awareness of harmonization with EU regulations (Directives), EU standard methods and quarantine (in general and quarantine regulations in laboratories and for control purposes). Furthermore the notions of a position as national reference Laboratory (NRL) for Plant Health, of lab quality; and required safety systems, participation in ring tests and proficiency tests was virtually absent in all institutes (except for KFVA).

Note: This leads to a very poor protection against quarantine pests and diseases at the borders and a totally deficient knowledge on the (possible) occurrence and distribution of those pests and diseases in Kosovo.

Monitoring and survey activities on (quarantine) pests and diseases as well as pest risk analysis (PRA) are absent or are performed only at a very limited level, (except KFVA) and no or few samples from border export- and import inspections are analyzed. This is to a large extent caused by the lack of awareness and by the absence of sufficient expert staff and/or testing facilities and procedures in the responsible institute laboratories.

Note: This leads to a very poor protection against quarantine pests and diseases at the borders and a totally deficient knowledge on the (possible) occurrence and distribution of those pests and diseases in Kosovo.

1.11 Both veterinary and phytosanitary inspectors are placed in a department under KFVA.

Especially phytosanitary inspectors (but is true also for veterinary inspectors) have lost their functional basis with present policy, plant production and protection and livestock department of MAFRD (those 3 departments will soon be reorganized in one unit). This is like present placement of KFVA under Prime Minister Office technically undesirable (see below). Inspectors have no chief inspector and generate no to little samples from their inspections (see above). They and the policy department of MAFRD are poorly or not at all represented in international plant health organizations/working groups/meetings such as EPPO and ISTA

Note: The tasks of a national, governmental animal and plant health body are to protect the national animal and plant resources and their health via inspection programs at the border during in- and export activities and inside the country during the production and processing stage. This animal, plant and agricultural industry protection is reached by

Prevention of new pests and diseases and invasive plants from entering the territory

Monitoring and surveying (quarantine) pests and diseases and taking control/eradication/prevention actions when those pest and diseases are diagnosed

Solving/managing trade issues which may arise in the field of animal and plant health, including Phytosanitary and veterinary trade barriers

Protecting and preserving valuable plant and animal natural resources in nature areas

Protecting the population from risks of zoonoses

1.12 Institute are not (yet) accredited for ISO 17025, 9000 or ISTA

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Note: In the EU, but also internationally there is a strong tendency for (statutory) laboratories to become (partly) accredited for critical (routine) diagnostic and other testing services. The usual official bodies granting accreditation are National Accreditation Bodies recognized by the Government (ISO accreditation), International Seed testing association (ISTA). Through accreditation a quality system (and at the same time often also safety and quarantine systems) is are put into place. Many EU laboratories are now (partly) ISO and also ISTA accredited.

Benefits are a better management structure of the laboratory, improvement of equipment use and test results through calibration and use of control samples, better training of staff, and more efficient staff. Part of accreditation is also validation/harmonization of methods used in (EU) laboratories and performance of ring tests and proficiency tests to check the reliability of methods and of the tests performed by a certain laboratory. Accreditation and validation standards are also part of the activities of EPPO. Furthermore the use and maintenance of checked reference collections/materials. For requirements of a National Reference Laboratory, see page 31.

1.13 Institutes have no, very little, or still insufficient investments, skills and equipment in state of the art molecular detection and identification methods required for good laboratory analyses and which have become common practice in EU (statutory) laboratories

- both in veterinary and plant health.

Note: In most EU laboratories molecular methods such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and its modern version real-time PCR, in-situ hybridization and sequencing have been implemented for routine diagnosis of many (quarantine) pest and diseases already for many years now. More and more methods are validated and incorporated in EPPO and EU standard protocols and Control Directives. When Kosovo wants to harmonize with the EU (taken into consideration what has been stated under 1.12) rapid introduction and establishment of those molecular methods is a prerequisite.

18 KOSOVO NOA: STRENGTHENING THE ADVISORY AND TECHNICAL SERVICES OF THE MAFRD

4.0 SPECIFIC

OBSERVATIONS

1.1 Kosovo Institute of Agriculture (KIA)

KIA in its present form came into operation in 2010 with donor assistance of Kos-Agri, KFOR, EAR, ILVO-Belgium, and the Faculty of Agriculture and Environment of the University of Tirana, Albania.

The analytic laboratory department is reasonably well equipped for soil and pesticide analysis and is active (3,500 samples/year), There are much lower levels of activity in the other KIA departments

Capacity (lab space and equipment) for soil, water and unprocessed food testing is sufficient

Capacity for seed testing and especially plant health is insufficient (staff, equipment, and facilities). At present, there is only a phytopathology department (performing some very basic mycology and a little bacteriology) and no activities in the important field of virology, Functionality warrants positioning as NRL, but:

– There are no quarantine facilities (labs, phytotrons, greenhouse) and no reference collections of quarantine organisms

– Moreover there is very little or no quality and lab safety system in place and the laboratories have no accreditation (ISO 17025 and ISTA)

– Refurbishment of labs is (for staff safety and NRL function) mandatory and should be marked as a Ministerial responsibility, using its (increased) capital investment budget

Note: see the detailed analysis of this situation in the Kos-Agri project report ”Strengthening the Kosovo MAFRD for the improvement of the fruits & vegetables production according to EU Standards”, Global Work Plan 2010, and project report 2011). Although refurbishment, equipping and staffing support for KIA is foreseen by the Kos-Agri project this has yet to be realized and progress should not be depend on the donor at all.

The institute laboratories are severely understaffed, present staff is insufficiently educated/trained and severely under paid

1.2 Kosovo Food and Veterinary Agency (KFVA), Food and Veterinary Laboratories

KFVA has been placed in 2010 under the Prime Minister’s Office. This is technically (livestock, veterinary quarantine in MAFRD) undesirable and is a principal source/client detachment

Note: Governmental veterinary laboratories or veterinary agencies are usually placed under the Ministry that deals with Agriculture, Food and Rural Issues, also true for those leading EU countries such as UK, Germany and France.

KOSOVO NOA: STRENGTHENING THE ADVISORY AND TECHNICAL SERVICES OF THE MAFRD 19

KFVA laboratories were new built and came into first operation in 2001 and are excellent facilities. They can work with quarantine/high containment and the KFVA labs can function as a NRL

The milk quality testing and serology are well organized and active

The molecular diagnostic department is well equipped, but severely understaffed (1 academic for all monitoring PCR tests of brucellosis, avian flu and rabies!); this situation is also severe problem for other diagnostic departments.

At present KFVA has not yet implemented testing of trichina in pork

Samples from farmers and vaccinations are still analyzed free of charge

Quality systems/lab safety/quarantine systems are implemented to a certain extent, but also according to KFVA’s own assessment not yet sufficiently. A quality manager is being recruited.

The KFVA laboratories have no internationally accepted accreditations as of yet.

1.3 Kosovo Center for Livestock Breeding (Cattle Insemination Station, KCLB)

This insemination station was created with Italian donor support in 2008. The project ended 31 December 2011.

KCLB has few (2), but very active, staff with vision and dedication. The station produced 34,000 doses of semen (sold at 2 euro per dose) and has become just self-supporting at an operating level.

Project deliverables by the donor were apparently only partly realized - no (feed) storage facility or calf housing, and only 3 of the originally promised 10 bulls were donated.

In December 2011 KCLB was handed over to MAFRD, but under the condition that it should continue as an NGO (association of veterinarians, technicians and farmers) for at least 5…