The Project ZADR (AL017684) “Education for Development in Zadria Area” is a development project promoted by the Catholic Church – Diocese of Sapa, under the guidance of the Bishop of the Diocese, Msgr. Lucjan Avgustini in cooperation with the Foundation “Partnership for Development” (PfD) and is financially supported by the Catholic German Organization RENOVABIS “Solidarity action of the German Catholics with the people of Central and Eastern Europe”.
The Project “Education for Development in Zadrima area” aimed to build the capacities of Zadrima farmers community and support them become self-sufficient to make a better management of the existing development potentials of the area, make a successful promotion of their values, potentials and products, in order to have a better access in the economic development, and improve their life conditions.
During the two years of project implementation, the farmer’s community has been actively involved in:
– Organization of 4 main groups of interest for the whole region, as per the main types of productions of the area:
- viticulture and wine production linked also with wineries, processors and wine traders (18 leaders representing more than 200 farmers)
- vegetable and fruit producers linked with greenhouse producers, industrial processors, artisanal workshops, traders, inputs (16 leaders reppreseting around 160 farmers)
- Livestock producers (mainly diary producers) linked also with the butcheries, processors, poultry, traders, artisanal processors, etc. (15 leaders representing more than 180 farmers)
- Beekeepers and honey producers group, linked also with the associations and traders, which is mainly established in high part of the zadrima area.
– 23 training sessions trainings, both in theory and practice, with the assistance of well known agriculture Experts and professors in Albania have improved both as regards the technical aspects of their production activity, standards and market demands as well as understanding the principles, notions and functioning of the market economy;
– Around 50 group leaders have been directly involved in capacity building process and 420 farmers and leaders in activities related to the transfer of knowledge and practices from leaders to their community;
– More than 4500 farmers from various groups have been assisted and benefited knowledge and assistance through the distribution of the practical use manuals produced on various typology of production, marketing criteria and services
– The establishment of a Lobbing Movement which gathers more than 50 people with influence in the development processes like: intellectuals, professors, deputes, representatives from LGUs, businesses representatives, community members, civil society, etc. The establishment of the Lobbing Movement is considered as the venue where many community problems that have to be dealt by the decision makers both at local and central authorities are presented and faced with the existing alternatives and opportunities of solutions in territory. By doing this many local actors involved in the Lobbing movement get more motivated and commit themselves to give solution to these problems in favour of the community and area development. The Lobbing movement is an association which extends its membership bases in continuity and welcomes all local actors and individual that aim and have willingness to contribute to the development processes.
The interventions undertaken in the framework of ZADR Project have produced results that have shown:
– improvement of the elements of cooperation between actors in the area;
– have taught them to use much effective ways and methodologies in the organizational aspect of the production as well as in the technical aspect of the production processes;
– marked the starting of a new way of developing agriculture economic activities among the farmer families in Zadrima area; and,
– it once more confirmed that the Education for Development in Community is the key to produce change and improvement in the social and economic life conditions of the population.
The ZADR Project concluded in January 2013. With the aim to continue the support, consolidate the results achieved, and expand the best practices also in other areas where the farmers community are in marginalized conditions, the Diocese of Sapa and the Foundation “Partnership for Development” undertook the initiative to extend such educational and development interventions also in the mountain areas of the Diocese, where the community lives in really poor situation. Therefore the new Project “Education for Development in SAPA Diocese”, which is again supported by RENOVABIS, will continue to intensify its interventions by consolidating further the development process and networking in the plain areas (Zadrima) towards specialization of production and of the production activity, while in the mountain areas the activities will intensify with a deeper approach and treatment of the development notions.
