As a child, Fotion Saqellari saw his father and grandmother taking care of beehives in Pogon, a village 30 km from Gjirokastra in southern of Albania. After growing up, he moved to Greece to work and study in computer science. However, he came back to his village where he now has three bees’ parks in different locations in Nëmërçka Mountain, at a height of 1000 meters.

“It’s one of the richest mountains, full of medicinal herbs, and its dense vegetation creates the ideal environment for the bees to collect nectar and pollen. The honey we produce is completely natural, we have raw honey, because the bees are in the mountains where no pesticides or human intervention is possible”, Saqellari explains while holding a honey jar in Dervician, Dropull Municipality. This shop, located in a restored old school, is part of a social enterprise that Saqellari joined through the EU-supported “Social Enterprise Accelerator and Incubator for women and youth of the Greek Minority” programme.

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The social shop located offers local producers a space to sell their goods to visitors and tourists. “I am a beekeeper and my knowledge has to do with bee care, not marketing. Through the programme, I have learned more marketing ways, how to manage the incomes and the investments, how to work on product labelling, analysis and the documentation needed to go to the next step- the markets. Then, there are a lot of things we can learn from bees; living in a community, taking care, managing a ‘city’ in a perfect way as they do and keeping the environment clean”, says Saqellari, who’s whole family of six members works with their bee parks.

Honey, propolis, beeswax, bee pollen and royal jelly are some of the products he has brought to the social shop. Around 50 other producers involved in the programme also sell their goods here.  

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One such local producer is Katerina Koca, who in addition to honey and propolis, offers compote, liqueur, jam, rakia and gliko (a sweet preserve). “At first, I was preparing everything for my family or friends. Now, thanks to the programme, my products are sold at the social shop, creating a bridge between us and the people who want to buy natural, homemade products. I have some formulas for each item and I am teaching the recipes to my daughter and my son, who is studying veterinary”, Koca says.

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Women of different ages and backgrounds gather at the shop, when buses of tourists arrive. Their knowledge on food recipes inherited from their parents and grandparents, cooked or prepared with local fresh ingredients, gives these products special tastes. Krisula Boboli is a smiling lady who produces trahana, a dried food ingredient based on a fermented mixture of grain and yogurt or fermented milk. “I use flour, goat or cow's milk. The process takes some days but the result is worth it. It is a food for every age, children included. Before the programme I prepared it only for my family, then I saw an opportunity as the social shop helped to ensure customers”, she says showing her products in the shop, now already labeled.   

Golden hands

Traditional culinary and agrifood was just one aspect of the programme. Establishment of the SOCIAL-E acceleration and incubation structure including the building renovation, the social shop, the management structures, training facilities, and physical incubators for hosting social enterprises included handicrafts, popular arts and creative industries also. 

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Arjola Dhjamandi learned from her mother-in-law to sew and embroider the Dropulli’s unique traditional costumes. “In the centre of the futa (skirt) there are two birds and a cup symbolizing a united family. This dress is only for brides in the first years of marriage, as women in older age have a different costume. I need almost two months to embroider one costume like this with all the details, the shirt, the sleeves, the waistcoat, the belt and the cap. The men’s costume is easier, and the difference of fustanella from other areas is that this one, is shorter”, explains Dhjamandi showing the various flowers in men’s and women’s costume, the colours and the materials used to celebrate tradition. Some details, however, are difficult to preserve in the same way, as the number of 70 gold coins that were worn on the forehead as part of the costume and were given to the bride by the groom's family. 

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Amalia Milo, who was part of the group of employees of the municipality that worked and helped to carry out the project in Dropulli, explained that most of the women worked earlier on the production of food and handmade products, but the sales were done among their relatives and acquaintances in a close circle of people. “They needed a bigger market in order to increase their sales. In the framework of the programme 50 women were gathered, creating groups according to their products. They were trained and given the opportunity to create their own business and go to the market in a more organized way” says Milo.

The initiative not only improved their economic standing but also fostered a sense of community and validation economically but also socially as they felt valued by society participating in social-cultural events organized in the social centre.

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION

“SOCIAL-E: Social Enterprise Accelerator and Incubator for women and youth of the Greek Minority” is an EU funded programme. The overall objective of the SOCIAL-E was the creation of a highly innovative Physical and Virtual Social Enterprise Accelerator and Incubator aiming at supporting vulnerable groups of the Municipality of Dropull to initialise, establish and growth social businesses related but not limited to traditional culinary and agro food, handicrafts, popular arts and creative industries, and new tourism services like alternative, cultural and agro-tourism. Aiming to create and sustain innovative mechanisms within the Municipality to establish and support social enterprises including mentoring, coaching, networking, Unique Sales and Marketing, international presence and promotion, funding, grants and micro financing, it also worked on increasing public awareness against cannabis cultivation and trafficking by promoting successful paradigms of social entrepreneurship as the best alternative to illicit activities and immigration.