Within its program of connecting with local communities, activists working on local initiatives and projects, mapping and establishing cooperation throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and strengthening local communities, Snaga lokalnog visited the Cooperative Eko Life from Stolac. It gathers veterans’ associations engaged in the production of fruits and vegetables. Cooperative Eko Life is a successful exporter of its products to Austria and the United Arab Emirates, while they distribute their products within BiH through the Mercator chain stores.
By: Đorđe Krajišnik, cover photo: Farma BiH
Organic production
The cooperative Eko Life is, as the initiator and manager Damir Radić told to Snaga lokalnog, the first in BiH to receive a certificate for the export of organic fig jam to the European Union thanks to the efforts of its members. In addition, Eko Life is part of the IPA project called BAKAR – Cluster Center Buna, a cross-border cooperation project in the field of tourism, agriculture and creativity, in which, in addition to BiH, the partner countries are Croatia and Montenegro. It is planned that Eko Life gets its registration through the IPA 8 project – a cluster of processors and producers of fruits and vegetables.
Speaking about the problems that the Cooperative is facing, Damir Radić pointed out for Snaga lokalnog that one of the big problems is obtaining information regarding the registration of associations, cooperatives, crafts. In his opinion, there is great confusion about where to start, who to turn to, and where to get the right information. It is, he points out, a vicious circle due to which individuals give up the registration of their agricultural goods and products.
“I have to and I need to, that is my job. I don’t have time to listen to stories for three hours. In my opinion, the biggest problem is information, the flow of information that will reach the end user. Not just information, but resources, help and the like. People don’t know. For example, we got a big IFAD7 fig project. I, as the project holder, need to buy seedlings from seedling producers and distribute them to those who want to grow figs, and then purchase that same fig in three or five years. It’s good. But I need 150-200 people, and I can’t go from house to house and look for interested people. I posted advertisements on the Internet, we made posters, but few people answered. The problem is the realization itself. In general, in Stolac, but also everywhere in BiH, we have the problem of small plots, outdated machinery and the possibility of irrigation. Without that, there is no agriculture”, Radić explained to us.
The entrepreneur from the Cooperative Eko Life emphasizes that even when you get a project, there is a problem in the implementation, because there is a problem of soil irrigation. There are, as he told us, wells used for irrigation, but it is not enough. The water is not technically correct, because it is full of limestone and sediment. If a farmer starts producing a certain agricultural crop, as Radić said, he_she will face the problem of earning from his_her work. In his opinion, in order for a farmer to make money, he_she has to sell the products for a higher price on the market than the market price. And in order to get into this business, a farmer has to earn money in order to survive. In the end, a farmer only survives on his_her basic products and does not have any income he_she should have.
“Growing fruit is very popular here. Figs, cherries, vineyards and peaches. Lately, greenhouse production has also been increasing, but these are all small producers. We are thirty years late in agriculture. People have moved out, there are no young people and there are no workers. At the moment, mostly older people are farmers. Few people decide to start working in agriculture. We also have a market problem. We are all in Čapljina at the wholesale market, where you can either not sell or sell it very cheaply. For us, the only solution is export. I have been exporting jams for three years to Dubai. Last year I received an organic certificate, so I export figs to Austria. Farmers produce figs, but people don’t have certificates, their methods are outdated. I had a huge problem getting an organic certificate. For example, for tomatoes that we grow here, we will hardly ever get an organic certificate due to the use of chemicals and pesticides. Theoretically, we can do that if we return the old varieties of apples. The problem is the yield, it is a lower yield without chemicals. They give a high yielding range, so that the producer can earn something. The point is in earning. And there are a million technical problems in order to grow organic tomatoes, and that is why it is plastic, none of it is picked ripe, but green. It is left in a dark place and then it gets its color”, says Damir Radić from Eko Life.
According to Radić, the solution for eco and organic production is educating people about the importance of such products, and why and how the market price for these products is higher than the market price of other products. This is the solution of growing these kinds of fruits and vegetables and surviving in the market.
“The European Union is not a problem. It also has projects that protect indigenous varieties. But we do not have a list of indigenous varieties at all. In order to indigenous varieties, the whole process must start on time. It is necessary to protect the geographical origin, i.e., the brand of a particular area. Croatia does this quite well for products such as prosciutto, cheese and the like. The problem is the economy. The gap between earnings and labor input, providing a farmer decent earnings for a normal life. Different kinds of fruits and vegetables can be grown here, but the problem is technical implementation. Right now, people working in agriculture barely survive. Those farmers who survive from their work is successful, not earning and gaining something, but only surviving. Everything is reduced to a minimum. People try to get out of trouble by doing everything they can, because they do not have support”, says the founder of the Cooperative Eko Life, and adds:
“Before the war, all companies worked, and everyone who was able to work worked. Besides that, everyone cultivated the land and was engaged in agriculture. There was nowhere a single inch of land in this area that was uncultivated. People were able to make additional contributions, buy new machinery and develop their agricultural production, but also make a good living. There were no imports. I spent my youth on the market in Makarska. Everything you harvest you could sell for good money during the summer season. That was so then. Stolac did endure many difficult things during the war. However, in my opinion, interethnic relations are still good now, don’t believe everything you read. People are working together, talking to each other, there are no problems. I’m not interested in that. The problem is in the structures, the municipality as a municipality is dead and powerless”, said Radić.
Everyone sees themselves in something else
He additionally explains that he pays contributions and VAT, and for the rest, he has no interest at all.
“At some point I only work for the state and its contributions. Where are we in all this? We have not received any help during the coronavirus pandemic. If you want to do anything, you have to collect a huge pile of papers. If you want to apply for any public call, you need various certificates, certifications, that cost from 200 to 400 BAM. And yet 90 percent of all those calls are affected by corruption. If you don’t give someone part of fund you receive from the public call, you will not even get it. I have experienced all of this personally. The system is just too slow, and I don’t see myself in that. My system is to evolve, to progress. People from the outside recognize the possibilities and potential of our region. However, people in our country do not see anything except politics and businesspersons. Everyone sees themselves in something else, not working in an industry where a person can live and earn honestly”, says Damir Radić.
In the end, our interviewee, representative of the Cooperative Eko Life emphasizes that the most important thing for him in all this is to mention that this Cooperative was the first and only in BiH to receive an organic certificate for figs.
“We have been exporting jams to Austria this year, and we are the only one in the EU with an organic certificate of that kind. Coronavirus pandemic did affect us a bit. This year, we plan to make jam, jam made from whole figs, fresh and dried figs, with our partners Biobalkan from Vienna. This jam is one hundred percent organic, and must not have any additives. An organic certificate obliges us to do so. We must take it seriously. We had to find a fenced, completely protected plot where we grow figs for organic production. They come to check the conditions, perform soil analysis, water analysis, leaf analysis, fruit analysis and finally product analysis with visual documentation of the facility where the fig is processed”, concludes Damir Radić from the Cooperative Eko Life, which despite numerous impossibilities present in the Municipality of Stolac, finds ways to offer and export our indigenous varieties to European and world markets.
