Improving greenhouse vegetable competitiveness through grants program from government in Kosovo

Lindita Ibishi and Arben Musliu

Abstract: Greenhouse vegetable cultivation is considered a priority sector for the Kosovo government based on employment potential, income, and export. Based on this, we assess the impact of the grant programs from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development (MAFRD) using genetic matching on improving the greenhouse vegetable sector in Kosovo. The main purpose of the study was to assess whether grants have an impact on the farmers’ gross seasonal revenue after matching similar grantees to non-grantees. Results showed that greenhouse vegetable grantees make EUR 2 950.04 more per growing season in comparison to the non-grantees (95% confidence interval EUR 2 359.20 to EUR 3 540.25). We use propensity score matching (PSM) to estimate important matching variables that affect a farmer to be a grantee. The study identified that younger farmers, farmers with more years of education, and farmers from the rural area are more likely to be grantees.

Keywords: competitiveness; genetic matching; Kosovo; PSM; vegetable

Date published: 2022-02-16