ekomozaik beekeeping in bosnia
DESCRIPTION
Beekeeping in Bosnia provides much more than honey EkoMozaik – one of the fastest-growing organic honey producers in Bosnia and Herzegovina – is not your typical start-up company. It was created by a nonprofit organization that is led by the “Social Entrepreneur of the Year” for Central and Eastern Europe. Zoran Puljić is executive director of Mozaik Community Development Foundation, a Mott grantee. He says if several goals are met – unemployed residents obtain living-wage jobs, ethnic groups interact peacefully and productively, and local resources are generated to meet local needs – then the communities in which EkoMozaik and Mozaik operate can be showcased as concrete examples of democracy at work. Read an article posted on Mott’s Web site about EkoMozaik and how it uses common interests to bring people together from different ethnic backgrounds – something that is still uncommon in Bosnia more than 15 years after the war ended. http://www.mott.org/news/news/2011/20110616BeekeepinginBosnia.aspx For more news about Mott’s overall grantmaking, go to http://www.Mott.org.TRANSCRIPT
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2. EkoMozaik is a for-profit company created to generate funds for Mozaik Community Development Foundation, a Mott grantee. Mozaik is a national, nonprofit grantmaking organization based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. 3. EkoMozaik operates a beekeeping business that utilizes open fields and a large greenhouse located in Sekovici, a rural community in Bosnias Republic of Srpska with high unemployment. 4. Today, 100 women work in the greenhouse and nearby fields. For many, it is their first job with pay. 5. Women plant and harvest lavender, a fragrant flower that attracts bees. 6. Fifteen men and women are employed year-round as beekeepers. In the winter months, the workers build beehives and in the summer months they each tend dozens of beehives. 7. Several studies show that Bosnias climate and soil are favorable for honey production. 8. In the 2011 season, EkoMozaik beekeepers plan to provide 44,000 tons of honey to help meet Bosnias internal needs instead of relying on imports. 9. The greenhouse is a space where the post-war reconciliation process can begin for the countrys three major ethnic groups because it is one of the few places where they all work side by side. 10. Mozaik Community Development Foundation www.mozaik.ba/