EU to support agriculture and decentralisation

The European Union (EU) plans to focus on contributing towards the development of agriculture sector and strengthening decentralization process in Bhutan, according to EU envoy to Bhutan.

In an interview with Bhutan Broadcasting Service, envoy Ugo Astuto said that EU has been a friend and partner to Bhutan in its effort to improve the agriculture sector in enhancing food and nutrition security in the country. 

EU has been a continued donor to Bhutan since establishing relation in 1983.

“Agriculture is a key considering that 60 per cent of the workers are employed in Agriculture. So what we try to do is broaden the interpretation of our support. Agriculture is important for our income generation and it’s important also to protect the environment depending on the technique you use. So we are trying to foster this aspect of agriculture development,” he said.

He also said EU’s contribution on decentralisation would help further strengthen the process of the Bhutanese government.

EU’s commitments comes days after release of a report by Department of Local Governance that pointed out that lack of a proper mechanism for management of human resource between local governments (LGs) and its administrations have been an obstacle to the effective functioning of LGs.

The study found that most of both elected and non-elected staff at the local level are unable to comprehend provisions of legal and regulatory tools such as the Constitution, LG Act and the assignment of functional and financial responsibilities.