The Embassy of Sweden team, led by H.E. Jonas Westerlund, Ambassador of Sweden to Kosovo, visited our beneficiary Organika Association and Agroproduct Shpk in Istog to see the SUNREED project Partnership Agreement in action!

The SUNREED project, with generous support from Embassy of Sweden in Pristina (Sida), is actively transforming rural livelihoods by supporting the medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) and Non-wood Forest Products (NWFPs) sectors in Kosovo’s mountainous regions.

Through a strategic partnership between CNVP Kosovo, Organika Association , and leading exporter Agroproduct shpk, the project is using market system interventions to strengthen the value chain from seedling production to local market and export.

As part of this strategic intervention, demonstration plots were established using new planting technology in MAPs, which includes a new pneumatic sowing machine and the use of agrotextile - a technical fabric that suppresses weeds and prevents contamination by blocking contact between plants and soil particles that may carry PAs (Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids) and TAs (Tropane Alkaloids). In doing so, it directly addresses one of the major barriers to Kosovo’s MAP exports to the EU.

With innovation in the soil and strategy in the system, SUNREED and its donors are setting a scalable example for sustainable growth across Kosovo. We are grateful to the Embassy of Sweden in Pristina for standing with us as we cultivate meaningful change together.