The priority contributes in a balanced way to the achievement of the country’s strategic objectives regarding rural development and reconstruction.

• It contributes to the first objective of 'improving the competitiveness of Greek agriculture in view of the challenges of an increasingly competitive international environment' with measures to improve the effectiveness of farms and measures which for increasing the productivity of the sector. 
• It contributes to the second strategic objective of 'sustainable and integrated development of the countryside in order to increase its competitiveness and attractiveness and to restore social and economic functions' with measures for exploiting natural resources, measures to improve the attractiveness of the countryside and measures to improve infrastructure and basic services in the countryside.  
• It contributes to the third strategic objective of 'conserving and improving the environment and natural resources in the countryside' with proposed measures for the management of water and soil resources and with measures to protect the environment and forestry.

Priority Axis 4 consists of 7 Measures, namely:

Measure 4.1. Investments in farms whose main productive activity is crop production

Measure 4.1 accounts for 43.0% of the public expenditure of the priority axis. It includes aid for encouraging investments in farms (whose main productive activity is crop production). The aid is expected to achieve sustainable development of the agricultural sector with the aim of improving the economic situation and living, working and production conditions of residents in rural areas and in particular farmers and their families.

Measure 4.2. Land reclamation projects - water resource management in agriculture

Measure 4.2 accounts for 21.3% of the public expenditure of Priority Axis 4. The measure includes projects for managing water resources, land redistribution projects and parallel land redistribution projects and pasture management and exploitation projects. Among the redistribution procedures, the creation of economically sustainable units will be facilitated which will contribute to the development of the agricultural sector as a whole. Via the pasture exploitation projects the aim is to reduce the cost of production in livestock breeding. Finally, the aim of the water resource management projects is to protect water resources in the Region and use them in a rational manner and provision is made for actions comprising infrastructure projects which will improve the manner in which that most limited factor under Mediterranean conditions, namely water resources, is used. The measure aims to reduce water losses from the old irrigation networks, to retain surface waters which will be used for irrigation, and to implement flood prevention projects in rural areas which will protect fields and the existing irrigation networks.

Measure 4.3. Support actions for the rural economy and rural population

Measure 4.3 accounts for 2.1% of the public expenditure of the priority axis. The measure includes aid whose aim is to provide incentives for improving the quality of agricultural produce and which tends to add value to agricultural production with the aim of agricultural production being adapted to consumer demand, which attributes ever increasing importance to quality. The aid relates to advisory services and similar support, including feasibility studies, planning and market research as well as activities related to the development of quality agriculture, such as the establishment of quality assurance systems for produce. Moreover, the measure comprises actions which aim to provide technical support to the agricultural sector via soft actions which will improve the performance and professionalism of agricultural activity and contribute to its long-term viability. Such actions may be the organization of competitions and local traditional events, activities for disseminating new techniques (small-scale private projects or demonstration projects), the provision of agricultural management services and replacement services on farms, child care centres for female farmers, as well as (small-scale) services to upgrade health care.

Measure 4.4. Development and improvement of infrastructure related to agricultural development

The financing of Measure 4.4 accounts for 8.6% of the public expenditure of the priority axis. The measure includes actions to reinforce infrastructure with institutions, stations and control centres for implementing the Single Community Market rules with the aim of controlling the quality features of produce and improving the quality of produce and assuring consumers. The measure also includes infrastructure projects for the construction and improvement of rural roads which connect villages with farms as well as actions relating to the connection of farms with the electrical grid. Finally, it also includes the creation of livestock breeding farms with the aim of creating modern infrastructure for housing livestock breeding units and parallel protection of the environment as well as infrastructure for developing apiculture.

Measure 4.5. Environmental protection in combination with agriculture, forestry, landscape conservation and improvement of animal living conditions

Measure 4.5 includes aid for the relocation of livestock breeding units that are a nuisance, for the protection, promotion and development of the agricultural and rural environment, as well as actions for the promotion and conservation of landscapes in forest complexes of great ecological importance and in ecological complexes of the NATURA 2000 network. The financing of the measure accounts for 9.2% of the public expenditure of Priority Axis 4.

Measure 4.6. Forestry.

The implementation of the principle of sustainable management combined with the conservation and improvement of the forest resources and the expansion of wooded areas are the object of Measure 4.6., the financing of which amounts to 10.9% of the public expenditure of the priority. The measure includes actions for restoring the timber forests damaged by natural disasters and fires, and also for introducing appropriate prevention measures, actions of afforestation of non-agricultural areas under the condition that planting is adapted to local conditions and is compatible with the environment (this concerns wooded areas that are owned by private owners or their associations or are the property of municipalities or their associations). Lastly, provision is made for forest investment aid aiming at improving the financial, ecological or social value thereof (this also concerns wooded areas that are owned by private owners or their associations or the property municipalities or their associations).

Measure 4.7. Infrastructure support for coastal fishing

The improvement of coastal infrastructure for fishing, with the general objective to improve the conditions under which it is practised, is covered by the implementation of Measure 4.7, which represents 5.0% of the public expenditure of Priority Axis 4. The measure will finance the construction and improvement of shelters for fishing boats, actions for the promotion of the fishing sector, exploitation works for lakes/coastal areas, studies for the exploitation of areas that are directly dependent on fishery and spatial planning designs for aquiculture activities in coastal areas.