Zivka Gjurchinovska is a farmer and mother of three who lives with her family in the picturesque village of Tumchevishte, in the north-western part of North Macedonia. She has been working in agriculture for 20 years – producing corn, wheat, beans, potatoes and other vegetables. A few years back, at their children’s suggestion, Gjurchinovska and her husband decided to try growing hazelnuts. They now have 750 hazel trees on 8,000 m2 of leased land. “The hazel trees do not give hazelnuts in the first seven to eight years, so one has to be patient,” says Gjurchinovska. “We got our first round of hazelnuts two years ago.” They started sorting the raw hazelnuts manually, which is very time-consuming and difficult, so Gjurchinovska decided to apply for a grant under a new government programme called Measure 115. With UN Women support, the Working Group on Gender Equality, under the auspices of North Macedonia’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy, developed the measure as part of the National Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (2018–2022). The measure gave women registered as agricultural producers the opportunity to apply for grants to sustain and grow their businesses. Gjurchinovska obtained a grant, which she used to purchase a hazelnut-sorting and shell-cracking machine that would significantly help her get her product to market. “There is a lot of work in producing hazelnuts. We still collect them manually, from the hazel trees and from the ground; then we need to sort the different types, dry them, crack the shells and roast them. Now it will be much easier – with much of the process done mechanically, our work will be done much faster,” says Gjurchinovska. “My next step is to upgrade the business with a hazelnut-pealing and roasting machine. I can say that any financial support is really helpful, especially for us women farmers. This motivated me not to give up.” Another registered woman agricultural producer who has benefited from a grant under Measure 115 is Frosina Georgievska. The fruit producer from the town of Prespa, in the south-western part of the country, is also a vocal activist for advancing the position of rural women.  Prior to becoming a registered agriculture producer herself in 2009, Georgievska worked with other farmers that motivated her to establish her own business. She then leased her first land in her name, and began expanding the business, working with her husband. She now has 13,500 m2 of land with fruit trees, mainly apples, but also pears, plums and cherries. Georgievska dedicates a lot of her time to lobbying for agriculture workers’ rights and is a great inspiration to women. She is happy to see that the number of women registered as agriculture producers in Prespa is growing, which she says helps fight gender stereotypes in agriculture. As Frosina describes, 90 per cent of the residents in Resen make a living in the apple business. Therefore, investing in the modernization of apple processing is crucial for the livelihood of the community. “I was able to purchase a mill, press and tanks for apples and a liquid-filling machine, which will help me greatly in getting my product to market,” says Georgievska. “The grant is an important institutional support, but at the same time, it is a motivation to continue working on something that we have been planning for a long time.” The GRB process helped the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy recognize that the financial support to registered women agricultural producers would be instrumental for sustaining small agricultural businesses and reducing the gender inequalities that exist in this sector. In fact, instead of the initially planned 100 grants, the Ministry identified the importance of expanding financial support, which resulted in doubling the annual budget for the measure and providing the support to 250 women producers. “This provides broad opportunities for women in rural areas to expand their businesses and introduce new products. In that respect, women from rural areas have a positive influence on the domestic economic growth,” notes Arijanit Hoxha, Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy. The first of its kind, Measure 115 came about as a result of the tried-and-true process of gender-responsive budgeting, which seeks to ensure that the needs of women and girls are met and prioritized in public policies, programmes and spending. The UN Women project “Promoting Gender-Responsive Policies and Budgets: Towards Transparent, Inclusive and Accountable Governance in the Republic of North Macedonia”, is financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida). Both donors are strongly committed to accelerating the economic empowerment of women working in agriculture and living in rural areas. “Providing women with access to productive resources and opportunities may be the key to bolstering the agricultural sector and creating a sustainable economic development. By working together, the Government, civil society, private sector and individuals, can support gender equality in agriculture and rural areas,” stated the Ambassador of Switzerland to North Macedonia, Sybille Suter. “Ensuring the gender-equitable distribution of budgetary resources in order to best meet the specific needs of women and men, as well as girls and boys, contributes to providing equal opportunities for everyone and strengthens the democratic processes in society,” says the Ambassador of Sweden to North Macedonia, Kristin Forsgren Bengtsson. “Originating from a rural area myself, I am aware of the importance of small businesses’ contributions to the development of rural communities. Sweden is proud to, jointly with Switzerland, contribute to the introduction of gender-responsive budgeting in North Macedonia, utilizing the knowledge and expertise provided by UN Women.” The story has been developed by the UN Women North Macedonia gender-responsive budgeting project team – Ivona Paunovic-Bishevac, Kristina Plechikj-Bekjarova, Ivan Vckov and Mirjana Nedeva, with the support by the UN Women Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia. Originally published at: https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2021/10/feature-women-agricultural-producers-in-north-macedonia-get-help-to-grow-their-businesses  

Making big plans after school   While some high-school students in North Macedonia — and worldwide — can’t wait for the bell to mark the end of the school day, Orhan Bagashov, Boris Nocheski, Anamaria Ilieva and Teo Kitanovski prefer to stay behind after school. Their work paid off when their projects in biology, programming, robotics and engineering won them the global Generation Unlimited challenge, organized by UNICEF.   Generation Unlimited (GU) helped transform their individual projects into something bigger. “We saw it transform into something that made a significant change in our society,” says Bagashov, “while allowing us to develop further as a team and launch a start-up.”   The eBionics team, led by Bagashov, designed a solution to improve access to prosthetic care with an open-source 3D printed bionic arm for people with upper limb deficiency. Their bionic hand can be made for as little as 100 euros.   Winning the Generation Unlimited challenge brought them financial support, skills, connections, and opportunities. It also made them role models. “Our project is an excellent example of how young people can make our society a better place to live for all people,” says Nocheski.  Generation Unlimited is one of various initiatives led by UNICEF to engage youth. Others include the UPSHIFT programme, the U-Report platform, and — with Stevo Pendarovski, President of North Macedonia — the “Reimagine the Future” initiative.    Thanks to their “uninhibited thinking and the youthful energy, youth can clearly offer new and innovative methods to deal with long-standing issues related to the Sustainable Development Goals,” or SDGs, says Rossana Dudziak, UN Resident Coordinator in North Macedonia.  Making progress, faster  Managed by UNDP, Accelerate2030 is the world’s largest programme supporting entrepreneurs from developing and emerging markets to scale their solutions for the SDGs. In North Macedonia, the programme consists of a three-month acceleration journey led by Seavus Accelerator and Business Impact Lab, which combines workshops and networking opportunities.   One of the Accelerate2030 participants is Gorjan Jovanovski, founder of start-up AirCare and developer of the AirCare air-quality tracking app. He says, "The number of inspiring and amazing people in the programme will help us make the right connections and cooperation to enter markets we previously didn't think was possible."  UNDP also supported an innovation centre called Skopje Lab to help transform public spaces in the capital city towards more sustainable solutions. “By bringing different types of people together and connecting them to urban planners and other experts that work in the field, as well as to city officials, [participants] are empowered to be more proactive in the city's decision-making processes," says Sofija Bogeva, coordinator of Skopje Lab. Y-PEER, a UNFPA led initiative, was involved in the first Voluntary National Review process, aiming to measure North Macedonia’s progress against the SDGs. Many young people have never heard of the SDGs, says Aleksandar Miloshevikj, who is in charge of Y-Peer North Macedonia. “Youth can take the lead role, but that can’t happen without the proper infrastructure and the proper support for youth networks and organizations to really thrive.”  It’s not just the UN family that is trying to boost youth participation in sustainable development. The Government of North Macedonia is at it, too.   “We made a major step forward with the adoption of the new law on youth participation and youth politics at the beginning of 2020,” says Gjorgi Tasev, Youth and Youth Policies Adviser to the Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia. “With this law, each municipality has to create at least one youth centre. There is still a lot of work to be done, but we’ve brought the youth to the table.”     Produced by UN in North Macedonia. Written by UN RCO North Macedonia Communications and Advocacy Officer, Aleksandar Dimishkovski, with the support from communications colleagues Simona Ristoska (UNICEF), Irena Spirkovska (UNFPA) and Ivan Mickovski (UNDP).   

12 May 2021, Budapest, Hungary – Although severe hunger has not been a major issue in Europe and Central Asia in the past 20 years, the region is in part facing an increase of moderate food insecurity – understood as irregular access to nutritious and sufficient food –, while also dealing with the widespread rapid growth of obesity, challenging its ability to achieve food security and improved nutrition, as outlined in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2. Lowering the costs of healthy diets can be crucial to achieving better nutrition and sustainability. According to the Europe and Central Asia Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has posed serious threats to food security and nutrition, especially for low-income and vulnerable populations in the region. The annual report, produced jointly by FAO, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Food Programme (WFP), World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), provides a comprehensive analysis of the topic, including all forms of malnutrition, current dietary patterns, and the costs of diets for individuals, society, and the planet. Of particular concern in Europe and Central Asia overall is the rapidly worsening situation in some countries of Central Asia, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Caucasus, which is keeping the region as a whole from achieving the 2030 targets of the SDGs on the prevalence of severe and moderate food insecurity. “The past 12 months have shown that our health and the functioning of our agrifood systems are fundamental – and that more effort is needed,” said Vladimir Rakhmanin, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative. “We all – including decision makers, the development community, civil society, academia, the private sector and individuals – have to do our part to achieve the Zero Hunger goal, food security and improved nutrition, leave no one behind and promote sustainable agriculture.” “Reducing hunger and malnutrition calls for a life-cycle approach, with special attention paid to children, adolescent girls, mothers and other vulnerable groups,” said John Aylieff, WFP Regional Director, Asia and the Pacific. “Zero Hunger is not just about having a belly full. It requires us to work across sectors – from agriculture and social protection to education and health – to ensure a healthy, balanced diet that’s also affordable and accessible for all.” “Depending on their production and location, farmers in the region have been particularly hit by the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular in countries with economies in transition,” stressed Olga Algayerova, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and UNECE. “I call on governments to deploy adequate financial support to farmers. I also invite them to make full use of the UN trade facilitation and border-crossing procedures to keep borders open to facilitate the flow of goods, in particular essential products such as fresh food.” Countries are making headway in the eradication of child stunting and wasting and low birth weight, but an opposite tendency is recorded for anaemia and exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of life. In all countries of the region, gaps exist in the policy framework for the prevention of obesity and iron deficiency anaemia. “UNICEF acknowledges the important breakthroughs countries have achieved concerning child stunting, wasting and low birth weight. However, without a redoubling of effort, the region will not meet 2025 and 2030 commitments on childhood obesity, anaemia and exclusive breastfeeding,” said Afshan Khan, UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia and Special Coordinator for the Refugee and Migrant Response in Europe. “Affordable, healthy diets are the basis of food security and nutrition outcomes, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the vulnerability of children’s nutrition. We have evidence to share with policymakers and food suppliers to take action to improve diets and mobilize health, education and social systems to scale up nutrition results for children.” The prevalence of overweight and obesity is a major problem, even among children, with alarmingly high rates in most countries of the region. According to the World Health Organization, the prevalence of overweight among children aged 6–9 is the highest in Mediterranean countries. “People living with obesity have an increased risk for severe COVID-19 outcomes,” said Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe. “COVID-19 has also highlighted how fragile food systems can be – and how important it is to ensure that all people, no matter where and how they live, have access to safe, healthy and sustainable food. For the WHO European region, this is vital, given the alarming situation with obesity – a chronic complex disease in itself and a major risk factor for non-communicable diseases in the region.” Additionally, the region is strongly affected by challenges imposed by the overconsumption of foods high in salt, fat and sugar and the underconsumption of fruits and vegetables. This calls for structural changes in food production and consumption within current food systems. WHO data show that unhealthy diets account for an estimated 86 percent of deaths and 77 percent of the disease burden in the region. When developing national food security and nutrition strategies, FAO recommends that countries consider the environmental and climate impacts of the reference diet – which is currently not included – and increase education on that. “The impacts of climate and environmental changes increasingly challenge current governance efforts,” said Milan Dacić, WMO Chief for Europe. “Policies are needed that support sustainable land management, reduce air pollution, ensure the supply of food for vulnerable populations, reduce crop loss and limit greenhouse gas emissions associated with agriculture. World Meteorological Organization activities on long-term monitoring; sharing of data, information and knowledge; and improved context-specific forecasts and analysis are vital support to alleviation of the impacts of climate and environmental changes.” Fang also pointed at the disadvantageous composition of food available in the markets of Europe and Central Asia. As revealed in the regional overview, the availability of animal-based foods is above the world average, while the consumption of vegetables, pulses and fish is below the world average. Increased attention to a nutrition-sensitive agriculture facilitating healthy diets would be required. The European Green Deal and From Farm to Fork initiatives are policy frameworks that could facilitate change. “The main conclusion is that despite good progress in diversifying and moving food availability in the right direction, there is a need to reorient food production and trade systems to enable healthy diets,” said Cheng Fang, an FAO economist and the main author of the report. “This may require additional efforts in consumer education and incentives to increase the consumption of fruits and fish, among other foods, to achieve sustainable and healthy nutrition strategies in these countries.” The costs of healthy diets Healthy diets are generally expensive, as they cost five times more, on average, than diets that cover only the basic energy needs through a starchy staple, according to the FAO report and based on the analysis of food cost/affordability data from 14 selected countries in Europe and Central Asia. Cost drivers include trade, public expenditures and investment policies throughout agrifood supply chains. To counter their impacts, FAO and the World Food Programme advocate for nutrition-sensitive investments, targeted interventions and social protection policies and programmes to increase the affordability of healthy diets in a sustainable manner. To this end, the experience of Armenia with nutrition-sensitive social protection measures is presented in the report. “The benefits of a nutritious diet affect not only individuals, but also the society as a whole,” said Fang, “and the costs of a nutritious diet are also borne by the entire society.” Overall, the total costs associated with healthy diets are much lower than the costs of current consumption patterns. Were the population to shift to healthy diets, it is projected that direct and indirect health costs would be reduced up to 97 percent and the social cost of greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced by 41–74 percent, according to data from projects in the examined countries. These benefits could potentially increase over time with innovation and the adoption of new technologies involving climate-smart agriculture. LINKS
 
Europe and Central Asia Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2020 
 
Launch of the 2020 Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition in Europe and Central Asia SDG2: Zero Hunger  
    “The momentum created by the pandemic offers us a chance to rethink our agrifood systems, among other issues, and to set off a transformation for better food and nutrition at less cost to the environment. The UN Food Systems Summit convened this fall by the UN Secretary-General, gives us all an excellent opportunity to address this important issue,” said Rakhmanin.  

Coming from a family with a long tradition in agriculture, Ljupco Angelovski, a young family farmer in the village of Egri, North Macedonia, wanted to modernise his farm when he took it over from his parents. His land, however, was fragmented into 15 tiny plots scattered in different locations.  “Time and fuel are wasted on traveling from field to field distant from each other, for plowing, fertilising, harvesting,” explains Ljupco. “Parcels like this can only be useful for subsistence farming.”  Ljupco’s farm in North Macedonia is losing out to other European countries because of excessive land fragmentation and small farm sizes. “Competing in the EU market and the global economy is simply not possible with small plots of land,” says Ljupco. “There are no economies of scale.” Why is the land so fragmented? Land fragmentation is a common problem that dates back to the land reforms implemented when centrally-planned economies in Central and Eastern Europe moved to market ones. Large-scale state farms were broken up and agricultural land was given back­ to farmers. Due to this, most farms in North Macedonia have an average size of less than two hectares, compared to the 16.6 hectares that is the average farm size in the European Union. Additionally, these two hectares are often fragmented into five or more smaller land parcels that are irregularly shaped and distant from one another, making them challenging to farm. This means that, through no fault of their own, family farmers have great difficulty in scaling up agricultural production and shifting towards commercial farming. Most farms in North Macedonia have an average size of less than two hectares and are often fragmented into many smaller, irregularly shaped parcels that can be challenging to farm.  Ljupco and his wife Kathy, who run the farm together, knew that they needed to address these issues and implement modern techniques for their farm if they wanted to provide better opportunities for their family. Through awareness-raising activities by the EU Delegation, FAO and the Macedonian Ministry of Agriculture, Ljupco and Kathy heard about the MAINLAND project, an initiative focused on helping agricultural land owners and rural communities in North Macedonia to address the problem of land fragmentation. Implemented with FAO’s technical and financial assistance, the project aims to enlarge farm sizes and improve necessary agricultural infrastructure.  Through this project, Ljupco and Kathy’s land has been consolidated into three regularly-shaped parcels with an average size of two hectares, up from just 0.4 hectares beforehand. Ljupco and Kathy’s land also has better access to agricultural infrastructure, now that the project is improving agricultural roads, drainage and irrigation channels. These improvements, according to Ljupco, will increase land use efficiency and improve yields by 30 to 40 percent.   In Ljupco’s village, the land re-allotment plan was adopted by the qualified majority of landowners in January 2020 to become the first majority-based land consolidation project in North Macedonia. The land re-allotment plan for the village of Egri reduced the number of land parcels by almost fourfold from 874 plots to 260. The 214 landowners now have the same amount of land, but in regularly-shaped parcels that allow for better farming practices.  Now that their smaller land parcels have been consolidated into three manageable ones, Ljupco and his wife Kathy are upgrading to modern machinery to increase their farm productivity. ©FAO Adopting modern means of production With his land consolidated, Ljupco is thinking about the next step to make his farm more competitive: mechanisation. He and Kathy are upgrading their agricultural tools to modern machinery to further increase their farm productivity. “Ever since I took over the farm from my father, I have recognised the need for modernisation, such as a tractor and connecting machines to facilitate our field work, reduce costs and be more productive. However, applying such modern equipment to the tiny and scattered parcels was simply impossible,” says Ljupco. He is now preparing to apply for EU funding so he can invest in a modern seeder, pepper transplanting machine and a row mulcher.  With improved access to the irrigation network, Ljupco and Kathy are also hoping to expand their drip-irrigation system. This modernisation would save water, help them to vary their crops and improve their yields.   “Access to irrigation water will make us less vulnerable to climate change and also enable us to broaden our crop choices and increase the value of our products for the marketplace,” says Kathy. Wheat and maize account for some 50 percent of their agricultural production, but they also produce peppers and melon. She and Ljupco are looking into growing medical herbs and spices, including organic mint and saffron. They have attended several workshops on organic production and are exploring new opportunities to diversify their production and income. With land consolidation, everyone stands to win because food security increases when farms flourish. With partners like the EU, FAO is improving family farmers’ land structure and access to infrastructure, technology and markets. This attracts youth to the sector and ensures our food systems are sustainable and fit for the future.