The Ministry of Rural Development and Food () is a ministry of the Greek Government tasked with modernizing and developing the agricultural sector in Greece. Specifically, among other objectives, the ministry promotes the export orientation of the country's agricultural and fishery products while improving their quality, using the resources of the Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy, and protecting the environment through the sustainable management of natural resources.
The incumbent minister is Margaritis Schinas of New Democracy.
History The ministry was established in June 1917 by the government of Eleftherios Venizelos under the title Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. [This followed the establishment in 1910 of a joint ministry for the sectors of Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry, also by Eleftherios Venizelos, which was renamed the Ministry of National Economy in 1911.] Almost immediately after, in September 1917, it was renamed the Ministry of Agriculture, a title it held until March 2004. At that time, the government of Kostas Karamanlis renamed it the Ministry of Rural Development and Food to emphasise the development of the agricultural sector.https://www.agrotypos.gr/kalosorizoume-ti-nea-igesia-kairos-to-ypourgeio-agrotikis-anaptyxis-na-paixei-ton-anaptyxiako-tou During the first government of Alexis Tsipras, it was demoted to the level of a sub-ministry within the "Ministry of Productive Reconstruction, the Environment and Energy", before being restored as a full ministry in his second cabinet a few months later.
List of ministers Rural development and food (2004–2015) Name Took office Left office PartySavvas Tsitouridis10 March 200423 September 2004New DemocracyEvangelos Basiakos23 September 200419 September 2007Alexandros Kontos19 September 20077 January 2009Sotirios Hatzigakis8 January 20097 October 2009Katerina Batzeli7 October 20097 September 2010PASOKKostas Skandalidis7 September 201017 May 201217 May 201221 June 2012Independent21 June 201210 June 2014PASOK10 June 201427 January 2015New Democracy
Rural development and food (alternates, January–September 2015) Name Took office Left office PartyEvangelos Apostolou27 January 201527 August 2015SyrizaDimitrios Melas28 August 201521 September 2015Independent
Rural development and food (since September 2015) Name Took office Left office PartyEvangelos Apostolou23 September 201529 August 2018Syriza29 August 20189 July 2019Makis Voridis9 July 20195 January 2021 New DemocracySpilios Livanos5 January 20217 February 20227 February 202226 May 202326 May 202327 June 2023Independent27 June 202314 June 2024 New DemocracyKonstantinos Tsiaras14 June 20243 April 2026Margaritis Schinas4 April 2026Incumbent
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