Bosnia and Herzegovina has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by implementing quarantine and other social distancing measures. These measures, however, have mental, social, and economic consequences on diet and food behaviors. The Bosnian case is particularly pertinent since the country has one of the highest global mortality rates relative to its population. In addition, its health system is fragmented and under-resourced. Consequently, in this study, we analyze the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Bosnians’ behaviors relating to food. It is based on an online survey performed during October–November 2020 with 3133 adult respondents. The statistical analysis encompassed descriptive statistics (means, percentages, and frequencies), as well as cluster analysis. The results reveal that the pandemic transformed consumers’ shopping behaviors and food sourcing, reducing shopping frequency and increasing food bought on each trip. Furthermore, there was an increase in the consumption of local food items due to food safety concerns. Additionally, the pandemic improved the awareness of Bosnians towards food with a decrease in food waste. Regarding diets, Bosnians tried to have healthier diets during the pandemic. Therefore, COVID-19 might have opened a ‘window of opportunity’ to promote the shift towards more sustainable food consumption and lifestyles.

Climate factors have an impact on plant life cycle, yield, productivity, economy and profitability of agricultural production. There are not a lot of studies on understanding of influence of climate factors variation on maize yield in agro-ecological conditions of Serbia. The aim of this paper is analysis of variation of climatic factors over a long-time period, as well as assessment of impact of the examined climate parameters on maize yield in two localities in the Republic of Serbia. For the analysis of climatic factors (temperature, precipitation, sunshine, humidity) in the region of Central Serbia and Vojvodina, the data of meteorological stations Kragujevac and Sombor during two thirty-year periods (1961–1990 and 1991–2020) were used. In order to determine the existence and strength of the relationship between the observed climatic factors and maize yield, a correlation analysis of these indicators for the period 2005–2020 years, was performed. In the period 1991–2020, the average values of temperature were annually increased for 0.046 °C in Kragujevac and for 0.05 °C in Sombor, and in the same period the average value of sunshine on an annual level was increased for 1.3 h in Kragujevac and for 5.01 h in Sombor, 2020 in comparison to average values in period of 1961–1990. The humidity was decline annually for 1.3 in Kragujevac and for 3.4 in Sombor in period 1991–2020 in comparison to average humidity in period of 1961–1990. The results of the correlation analysis showed that the maize yield was significantly lower in the years with expressed high temperatures and precipitation deficit. Based on these studies, established effect of climate change on maize yield and that this demand developing adaptation agricultural practice through creating maize hybrids and varieties with greater adaptability and improvement of agrotechnic measure.

In the world economy, small and medium sized entreprises (SMEs) dominate in the number of overall enterprises (90-99% of all enterprises, depending on the definition used) and in economic contributions (GDP growth, productivity, job creation, innovation, level of competition, etc.) (Lundström & Stevenson, 2001). Because small businesses generate jobs, tax revenue, functional products, charitable donations, technological development, and social contributions to communities, their success and sustainability are important for social and economic development. In addition to the impact on public health, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused a major economic shock and the greatest consequences were felt by the small and medium-sized enterprises. Due to the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, countries and their companies are facing major problems of human and business capacities sustainability. Although governments have enacted private sector policies, there are constraints that have direct implications for economic growth potential. In this paper, we investigate the impact of COVID-19 on SMEs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, focusing on the impact of the Law for mitigation negative economic consequences, better known as the Crown-Law. We first examined how the companies performed this year compared to the previous year, and then we examined whether there were barriers to the implementation of the Crowv-Law and if so, whether they were internal or external. The results of this research point to the fact that the Crown-Law is not good enough. The measures are not in line with the strategic needs of SMEs, there is a time limit and the measures are short-term. The SME development strategy should be coordinated based on the mechanism of public-private dialogue. SMEs need business services to improve their competitiveness (information, consulting, training, accounting, legal services, advertising, marketing, technical and technological services, including testing standards and certification requirements abroad, product upgrades, etc.). The results of this research provide some information of the business results and expectations of SMEs in times of crisis, while offering insight into measures designed to aid recovery. The results highlight the role that the length of the crisis will play in determining its final impact, which policymakers should consider when considering the scale of interventions needed. On the other side, the Covid-19 pandemic has opened up new challenges, but also opportunities for SMEs, such as technological advances that create new products and transform almost every phase of the business from manufacturing to marketing, procurement and logistics. Currently, only a small part of the SME sector is able to recognize and seize these opportunities and meet the challenges.