diANEOSIS: How can the Greek primary sector boost its value

Greek agri-food, if perceived as a key sector for the entire economy of Greece, can unlock serious growth potential and provide solutions and added value to a number of additional sectors, such as tourism, manufacturing, but also research and innovation.

This is highlighted, among other things, in a new policy text of diaNEOSIS on “Prospects and opportunities for the primary sector in Greece”, an analysis of the current situation in Greece, with researchers highlighting the advantages of Greek agricultural production, the sectors in which appear remarkable opportunities for growth and extroversion, but also how the country could make more effective use of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy.

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According to the authors of the text, in order to regenerate the primary sector, to “unlock” its value and secure the position it deserves in the Greek economy, two plans need to be formulated and applied. Specifically, diaNEOSIS points out:

• The first plan is nothing more than the required improved version of the plan submitted under the CAP. Greece has no choice but to carefully study the comments of the Commission and to remedy the weaknesses of the version of the plan that was submitted. Even in cases where the goals may even seem excessive, such as in the field of measures for the environment, climate change and biodiversity, our country should not be afraid. It needs to formulate a clearer overall “green architecture”, set ambitious goals and find creative solutions, as in the case of water management with the complementarity of other programs (e.g. the “Water 2.0” program). Also, in the subsection on CAP some cases have been highlighted which the State could pay attention to, even if they are not core elements of CAP. However, they are cases that will bring results, as long as the country follows “precise interventions” according to the standards of “precision agriculture”. If there are no fresh ideas, they can be sought in the Strategic Plans submitted by other countries which are publicly available.

• The second plan must be based on a national public debate and concern interventions that will strengthen the pillars of the primary sector, address its weaknesses, take advantage of the opportunities presented and mitigate the negative effects of a multitude of external threat. The sudy’s contribution to this dialogue and plan is based on a combination of interventions, which are divided into three axes. The first axis is related to shielding the two main Greek assets vis-à-vis shielding the quality of production and shielding the quality of human capital. The second axis focuses on the stimulation of two interrelated fields, in which our country does not have the performance it could have. We refer to partnerships, which are inextricably linked to extroversion. The third axis concerns the public administration and the necessary administrative reforms that are necessary in order to facilitate the first two axes and to utilize the programs that will be implemented in the context of the new CAP and the Recovery and Resilience Fund, at the right time.