March the 13th, 2025 – Agro Start Up is set to encourage Croatian youth who may feel marginalised and disadvantaged to remain in their rural villages and engage in agriculture.

The fact that Croatia has long been suffering from a demographic crisis is hardly new to anyone. It began decades ago in the wake of political fallout and ideological issues, and continued owing to economic ones. Since Croatia joined the EU back in July 2013, the situation has only grown worse owing to the dropping of all borders to foreign labour markets and the introduction of free movement.

If you’re to believe the Census carried out back in 2021, Croatia is now home to less than four million people, and there is roughly the same amount (likely slightly more) of ethnic Croats outside of Croatia. Many of them don’t speak the language, don’t hold Croatian citizenship, and have no intention of ever living here.

Perhaps the most problematic area when it comes to Croatia’s ongoing demographic crisis is the Croatian youth who live in rural areas and villages. Croatia has a number of so-called ghost villages with nobody left living in them, and the list is increasing. More efforts are required to encourage Croatian youth who are from rural areas to remain where they are and make something of both themselves and the agriculture of the villages that keep on emptying, particularly in the east. That’s where Agro Start Up comes into the picture.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Croatian youth living in villages and other rural areas are the future of this country’s agriculture. They bring new perspectives and ideas and play an important role in the modernisation and improvement of agricultural production nationwide, as was emphasised at the 8th Agro Start Up Conference at the Faculty of Agriculture in Zagreb.

State Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Zdravko Tušek told the gathered students that he believes that it’s likely those who chose to study agriculture were also motivated by the desire to produce safe, high quality food. This, he said, was particularly highlighted by the crises we’ve seen over the past few years.

Tušek emphasised that one of the focuses of the Ministry and the measures and programmes it implements is related to Croatian youth and generational renewal. The goal of these measures, including Agro Start Up itself, is to encourage the Croatian youth to remain living in their villages in the countryside, and motivate them to engage in agriculture. The chairwoman of the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, Marijana Petir, also emphasised the importance of motivating young people to engage in agriculture and remain where they’re from.

“There are problems in every single job. It doesn’t matter what you do, you’ll always encounter obstacles, but it’s important not to give up,” she told the students.

Agriculture has historically played a very important role in Croatia. Despite the fact that the country’s coastline is known for its strong ties to maritime culture, the continental part of Croatia, particularly the vast plains of the east, are known for the relationship between man and the land. Slavonia was once known as the bread basket of not only this country but the entire immediate region, particularly before Yugoslavia collapsed.

Motivating the Croatian youth of the more rural areas of the country to engage in agriculture will not only help to heal the concerning demographic issues that plague the east, but boost the traditional economic branch of that region.
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