One step forward, every day

October 17, 2020

Photography by Sergei Gapon for UNDP Belarus

Natalia Strok, a director of social and cultural institution "Vysokovsky Ecological and Ethnographic Center" in Biaroza district, starts her day very early.

She answers calls from partners and clients whom she consults over the phone, goes to their subsidiary plots, and delivers seedlings, seeds and equipment. Natalia is helping local residents to start their own agribusiness during COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis.

Rural residents are one of the most vulnerable groups in terms of poverty. According to research by the Economic Research Center BEROC, the main causes of poverty for rural residents are limited employment opportunities and low wages - on average 20% less than in the city.

During COVID-19 many regional businesses face crisis or closed their enterprises, and employment opportunities outside the regions are very limited. In this situation the opening of new business options becomes especially important for rural residents.

In December 2019, as part of the Support to Economic Development at the Local Level in the Republic of Belarus Project funded by the European Union and implemented by the UNDP in Belarus in partnership with the Ministry of Economy, Natalia opened an Agro-Eco-Entrepreneurship Support Center in the Biaroza district, Brest region. 

Here, locals are offered free courses to learn innovative technologies, green economy principles and the basics of business and financial literacy. In other words, Natalia wants to teach her country fellows to work the land in the way that will enable them to grow high-quality eco-friendly produce for themselves and for sale, even on small subsidiary plots.

This small business that Natalia teaches her clients to do has great effects for the economy – creating new jobs, increasing the number of self-employed people, and developing agricultural marketing.

The Center provides seeds and seedlings, trains novice farmers in technology and innovations in crop production, and plans to help them to sell their produce in the future. Today 15 residents of the district are already engaged in farming, using seeds and seedlings, and the knowledge they gained in the Center. A special nursery facility that is currently under construction is devoted to research studies of methods to grow and process various seedlings of bushes and trees without the use of chemicals, and testing them in practice. In the future, these methods will be used by the Center’s clients.

Natalia works with different age and social groups: pensioners, large families, people with disabilities, experienced farmers, and novice gardeners. She focuses on working with children and youth, because they are the future of the district. Natalia delivers an educational programme for schoolchildren at Zdzitava Secondary School, where they have land plots to grow naked-seeded pumpkins and guelder-roses for further sale.

Guelder-roses, naked-seeded pumpkins, Canadian blackberries and rosehips are just the beginning. The plans are to grow and harvest medicinal herbs for export to EU countries, to open a shared facility for the processing of the harvested eco-friendly raw materials, and to create jobs for people with disabilities and their families who will make eco-products for further sale. Four people are already doing these jobs.

In the future, Natalia plans to open an ecological and ethnographic park on 20 hectares of land – an eco-laboratory – that will combine modern agricultural production, platforms for research and implementation of innovative agricultural technology, training facilities, and infrastructure for ecotourism with new forms of recreation, using green energy- and resource-efficient technologies.

Natalia’s life story is quite fascinating. Born to an Austrian father and Russian mother, she could have lived in Austria. However, she married a Belarusian man, and for some time she lived between two countries. When her four children grew up, she finally returned to Belarus to share her rich experience and implement projects in her homeland. After all, it is our native land that gives us strength, while helping others makes us feel satisfied and happy.

“I enjoy doing business, and I love working the land. So, for me this is like a hobby. I am especially glad that I can introduce and teach innovative methods to my country fellows. I am sure that for many of them this will be a way out of the economic crisis, their main or extra income. We must strive to become doers; it’s time to put our knowledge and experience into practice. Even in difficult times, you always need to take at least one step forward, every day,” said Natalia, with conviction.

Initiatives like Agro-Eco-Entrepreneurship Support Center in the Biaroza district are very popular among rural residents, as they provide not only innovative knowledge and skills, but also provide seedlings, seeds and other resources necessary for running an agricultural business. For example, in the Mogilev region, within the framework of the project “Public involvement in environmental monitoring and management of environmental protection”, the initiative “Green garden economy for the future of the village” is being implemented, which promotes the development of private household plots in the Mogilev region. Full story here 

The Agro-Eco-Entrepreneurship Support Center was established in the Biaroza district, Brest region, as part of the project “Support to Economic Development at the Local Level in the Republic of Belarus” funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Belarus in partnership with the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Belarus.