Two and a half million denars for women farmers' social security, at 100,000 denars per maternity payment: enough for 25 mothers at most

Agriculture Minister Borče Serafimovski came to Strumica to mark the International Day of Rural Women and delivered the line everyone expects at an event like this: "Rural women will always receive the support of the state." Then he gave the numbers. And it's the numbers that show how big that support really is.

The first is measure 115 - "Support for an active female member of an agricultural household". Farms listed in the Single Register of Agricultural Holdings where the holder or a member is a woman can apply until 13 November for co-financing of up to 360,000 denars for equipment to process and finish primary agricultural products and for services linked to a business plan. The application is filed on paper - in person at the registry office of the Agency for Financial Support in Agriculture and Rural Development, or by registered post. In 2026.

Two and a half million denars for maternity - for how many women?

The second number is even more interesting. Maternity benefit for women working in agriculture amounts to 100,000 denars in total over nine months. Funding for that programme, the minister says, was raised in the budget revision from one to two and a half million denars. Simple arithmetic says that two and a half million denars, divided into 100,000 per woman, is enough for twenty-five mothers at most. According to the Single Register of Agricultural Holdings, the country has 129,226 agricultural holdings and 29,971 women, 3,918 of them under 40.

The president of the National Federation of Farmers, Stevanče Jordanoski, said what the minister had skirted around: "Economic independence cannot exist without basic social security." The federation is asking for a permanent legal mechanism for the social protection of women farmers during maternity and sick leave, along with training and better access to markets. The women farmers at the event confirmed what every small producer knows: a new machine isn't worth much if the product never reaches a buyer.

One of the panellists, Vustasova, was the most direct: the measures "as they have been designed are not suited to their needs". The minister promised that women's voices would carry more weight in decisions. Good. The first test is simple: will next year's maternity benefit reach more than 25 women across the entire country?