Shala in Telegrafi: “Abandoning agriculture as a strategy of surrender”

PRISHTINA — Telegrafi columnist Agron Shala argues that the abandonment of farmland and rising dependence on food imports is not merely an economic concern but a strategic risk. In his view, it amounts to a “strategy of surrender” — a country that cannot feed itself is forced into geopolitical compromises it would otherwise refuse.

Shala lists familiar facts: a falling number of active farms, ageing rural population, the lack of investment in irrigation and the absence of consistent subsidy policy. He claims the cost of these trends shows up not in monthly bills but in the state’s ability to weather supply shocks, trade wars or global price swings.

The argument carries a geopolitical weight: agriculture, as Shala puts it, is national security in peacetime and diplomatic leverage in crisis.

Context

Kosovo runs a substantial food trade deficit. It imports most basic products, including meat, grains and seasonal vegetables. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture’s subsidy budget has grown, but its management has been criticised for lacking strategic direction.

A balanced assessment would note that Kosovan agriculture has its successes too — exports of small fruits, orchards, wine. The problem is not absence of potential, but uneven policy, poor infrastructure and unfinished land consolidation. Shala is right to fold these into a security framework, even if the word “surrender” may strike some readers as overstated.

Paraphrasing Shala, a state that imports its bread imports its submission — a sharp formula that distils his argument.

Polemical tone aside, his call for an integrated policy — irrigation, technical assistance, limited trade protection and agronomic education — is a sensible agenda, and one that EU funds could readily support.

Source: Telegrafi — Opinion column by Agron Shala