Non-Wood Forest Products sub-sector, within Food and Natural Ingredients sector, Kosovo
Who
Swiss contact, together with Riinvest Institute and PEM Consult, and funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
What
Where
Mitrovicë, Kosovo
When
From 2013 until 2017
Why
Kosovo has a long tradition of collecting wild NWFP, such as naturally grown mushrooms, aromatic and medicinal herbs, and berries, but it lost the market with the breakdown of Yugoslavia.
Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs) in Kosovo are considered high-value export crops. Ninety-five percent of the MAPs produced in Kosovo are exported, mainly in bulk, to Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, and France. This is a labor-intensive sector and represents around 2% of the national agricultural area.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The purpose of this research was to identify and analyze all aspects of the NWFP value chain in the Mitrovicë/a region of Kosovo.
The program focused on the Non-Wood Forest Products sector, aiming to facilitate job creation and income generation at all levels of the MAPs value chain.
achieved goals
Measurable Results
Farmers
Thanks to its support, the MAPs cultivation has moved from the testing phase to commercial cultivation. In 2016, 600 farmers were involved in MAPs cultivation.
People
A total number of 1900 people were employed in the MAPs sector during the run of the programme
Certified Operators
While only 1 operator was certified with organic in 2015; 20 were certified in 2017 and 15 were in the process of certification. The increased profit for operators was estimated at 18.6% overall.
When the project was implemented, Kosovo was in a reconstruction period, and the non-wood forest product (NWFP) sector could not be left behind. ProFound collaborated hand-in-hand with Swisscontact in designing interventions to enhance both local market alternatives as well as export opportunities for SMEs in this sector, aiming at job creation, quality improvement and inclusiveness.