€12 million allocated to boost rural development in Cyprus

A total of €12 million will be allocated to four district action groups with the aim of developing rural areas, it emerged on Wednesday.

Within the framework of the EU’s 2023-2027 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) plan, the community development companies of Troodos, Larnaca & Famagusta, Limassol and Paphos, will receive a total of €12 million euros to cover the next five years, the ministry of agriculture announced.

Agriculture Minister Petros Xenophontos called the development companies the “arms of the ministry” and commended the good work they had carried out to date.

“Through this agreement we will see targeted projects that meet the needs of residents,” Xenophontos said.

General Director of the ministry, Andreas Gregoriou, detailed that the applications for funding submitted by the action groups, had been evaluated and ranked by a six-member committee.

The committee allocated the largest share of the funds to the Troodos development group which received €3.1m, with Larnaca & Famagusta, Limassol and Paphos receiving €3m, 2.9m, and €2.8m respectively.

Director of the Troodos group, Petros Hadjicostas, highlighted previous agritourism and infrastructure uses of CAP funds for ‘bottom-up’ projects, both private and public.

The director gave examples of future intended uses of the funds, including investing in young entrepreneurs, tutoring centres, dental clinics, and physiotherapy facilities.

Limassol director Rakis Pierides said that district envisioned environmental projects and actions targeting youth.

Paphos director Marios Ioannou for his part, asked for increased safeguards to ensure funding is not lost, noting the need for a set timeframe for implementation whether the project is allocated to private persons or the district administration.