Thanks to the EU4AGRI Project, Banja Luka got five new “urban markets” or sales points for local agricultural and food products. They were opened together with the Banja Luka Mayor Draško Stanivuković and the acting UNDP Resident Representative in BiH, Sylvain Merlen, in the presence of many beneficiaries of the EU4Agri Project and citizens. 

Ten mobile food sales points are being set up in Banja Luka at five locations: Lazarevo, Nova Varoš, Borik, Obilićevo and Starčevica. These are equipped with modern cooling devices, shelves and sinks with water canisters. Five semi-underground containers were also installed, and 38 users completed sanitary training and received sanitary certificates, which further raises the standards of hygiene and food safety. This concept of market reconstruction not only encourages the sale of local agricultural and food products and improves working conditions, but also promotes sustainable development practices, and was done with the aim of improving the access of Banja Luka residents to domestic products.

The establishment of mobile sales points in Banja Luka is part of the European Union’s support for the competitiveness of agriculture and rural development in BiH and is one in a series of events called “EU4AGRI develops market infrastructure: Together for a more beautiful city!”. For the establishment of mobile sales points in Banja Luka, the European Union allocated more than 200,000 KM in grants. Through EU4AGRI, 153 investments of BiH farmers and companies worth more than 18 million euros have already been supported, of which the EU financed 11 million euros. The EU4AGRI project is a four-year initiative of the European Union (lasting from 2020 to 2024) worth 20.25 million KM. The aim of the project is to modernize the agricultural and food sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The project is financed by the European Union with 20 million euros, and is jointly implemented and co-financed by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in BiH and the Czech Development Agency.