Slovakia: {Slovensko}

Agriculture as the backbone of the economic system of the Slovak republic

The territory of Slovak republic can be considered as a rural agricultural country according to international methodologies for demarcating agricultural areas. This is evidenced by the character of the country and the structure of the settlement. Agricultural land occupies 48.5% of Slovakia's area. Almost 60% of the agricultural land is cultivated.

Slovak republic is praised as one of the most labour productive countries in the CEE region. Combined with cost effectiveness and a high education level, the Slovak labour force excels in the three areas that often concern investors the most labor costs, productivity and qualification.

Food processing continues to be an integral part of the Slovak economy and contributes more than 4.3% to the entire industry. There are more than 3,800 food processing companies divided into various segments based on the main indredient being processed.

Room for Improvement

Slovak republic is currently able to cover only 40 percent of its citizens' food consumption. Despite the long-term declared efforts of politicians to increase self-sufficiency in food, Slovak republic is increasingly dependent on the import of food production from abroad. This situation also wants to be changed by the current government, which describes increasing food self-sufficiency as a strategic interest of the state.

EIT Food Hubs in Slovak republic : Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra and Slovak Centre of Scientific and Technical Information of the Slovak Republic

Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra (SUA) has been in one of the leading positions of Slovak universities since its establishment in 1952. SUA is the only agricultural university and as well as the only university recognized as the EIT Food Hub (2019-2023) in Slovakia and a member of the EIT HEI Initiative (from 2023). In 2023, SUA was included in one of the most prestigious rankings of world universities, The Times Higher Education World University Ranking 2024 (THE WUR 2024).The relevant internal infrastructure of the university focused on the food sector priority includes the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Sciences and the AgroBioTech Research Centre with the newly created Food Incubator (in 2023) and EIT Food Office (in 2022) as integral parts of the university and Transfer Centre as part of Office of Project and Transfer Activities with strong support from EU projects including EIT, international programs and other national schemes.

Slovak Centre of Scientific and Technical Information (SCSTI) is a directly managed organization of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic, a national information center for science, technology, innovation and education and a scientific library of the Slovak Republic. It coordinates activities and provides interdisciplinary research and development centers and national infrastructures for research, development, innovation and education.