Our Southeastern Europe
Series Continues
Kosovo still struggles, eleven years after the war to separate from Serbia. For now only 70 or so countries recoginze the breakaway region’s independence, and a bevy of issues are sidetracking the republic’s leaders: displaced people, poverty, and likewise, economic development.
But there is reason to invest in Kosovo. Clean energy advocates will not warm up to this fact, but Kosovo has large reserves of coal. Low wages and a high unemployment make for an eager workforce, the plurality of which works in agriculture. To that end investment is flowing into Kosovo to transform agriculture and spark economic development in rural areas.
Organic farming may seem to be a luxury in this country of 1.8 million, but this fledgling republic is ripe for such a change. After all, abandoned land, a damaged infrastructure, outdated equipment--add the fact that much of the soil has long been free of chemicals or pesticides, and you have an opportunity to grow specialized crops that can be exported to the rest of Europe. To get this country’s farmers’ sea legs up, NGOs are already in Kosovo to offer advice and support.
In the Municipality of
Vushtri, beekeepers are amongst the first certified organic farmers. The NGO Mercy Corps has worked with 60 farmers to shift their operations to produce organic honey, which now fetches a high price on the market. For now the honey is only sold in Kosovo, but the farmers will soon collaborate and export their product outside their homeland.
It is difficult for farmers and manufacturers in small countries to compete with the enormous scale that China, Brazil, and India can supply. But a combination of time-tested techniques and training in modern processes can help give economies in the Balkans the lift for which its people are striving.
