Agricultural Production and Land Distribution in Macedonia
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYRM or Macedonia) is a small and diverse nation in the Balkans region. Formerly a part of Yugoslavia, Macedonia acquired independence peacefully in 1991, transitioning towards democracy and a market economy. However, the country’s political name stirs controversy in its neighborhood, given that Greece’s northern territory has traditionally been known as Macedonia. Therefore, Greece argues that the country’s name vindicates political and territorial ambitions against its national sovereignty, which is why the country’s official name is the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Furthermore, throughout the last several decades, Macedonia has been dealing with a host of issues, including corruption, authoritarianism, and foreign meddling in its domestic affairs.
Geographically, the country is landlocked and dominated by mountains, valleys, rivers, and lakes. Similarly, Macedonia has a national territory of almost 26.000 square kilometers, which is somewhat smaller than Vermont. Currently, the country has a total population of little over 2.1 million citizens, about 57% of which live in an urban setting, notably the capital city of Skopje with some 500.000 inhabitants. Macedonia’s national annual gross domestic product (GDP) is approximately US$29 billion and the country has experienced positive economic growth upwards of 2.0% in recent years. The Macedonian economy is divided into 9% agriculture, 25% manufacturing, and 66% services. Likewise, the agricultural industry employs 17% of the national labor force, while manufacturing employs 29% and services employ another 54%. Meanwhile, the agriculture industry only utilizes about 44% of the national territory, while another 40% is forested.
Agricultural Production and Land Distribution in Macedonia
In terms of natural resources, Macedonia has iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, chromite, manganese, nickel, tungsten, gold, silver, asbestos, gypsum, timber, and arable land. Within manufacturing, the national industry is focused on food processing, beverages, textiles, chemicals, iron, steel, cement, energy, pharmaceuticals, and automotive parts. Meanwhile, the country’s agricultural industry has as main products grapes, tobacco, vegetables, fruits, milk, and eggs. In terms of trade, Macedonia does not belong to any major trade bloc, such as the European Union. Nevertheless, its major trade partners are neighboring countries, mainly Germany, Bulgaria, Greece, the United Kingdom, Kosovo, and Serbia. Furthermore, during 2015, Macedonia’s exports totaled US$5.2 billion and its imports came up to US$6.7 billion, resulting in an overall trade deficit of US$1.4 billion.
In recent years, the average per capita protein intake of animal origin amongst the Macedonian population has been about 32 grams daily. Meanwhile, cereals, roots, and tubers supply some 37% of the average food energy intake in the country. Simultaneously, land distribution and output in Macedonia has evolved throughout the last few decades. Back in 1992, permanent pastures and meadows in the country covered 645.000 hectares, while arable land covered 606.000 hectares and permanent crops accounted for 56.000 hectares. More recently, by 2014, permanent pastures and meadows had decreased to 811.000 hectares, while arable land represented 411.000 hectares and permanent crops covered 38.000 hectares. Meanwhile, in 1992, the cereals market in Macedonia utilized little over 235.000 hectares of land and yielded more than 623.000 metric tons annually. Finally, in 2014, the country devoted approximately 161.000 hectares of land to cereals production and still yielded almost 630.000 metric tons.