The Covid pandemic closed the markets. The women farmers had nowhere to sell. They looked for ways and decided to make an online market and look for customers online to continue taking care of their families.
They worked with the organization “Rural Coalition” and became part of the Konekt donor circle where citizens donated to create “Nasa tezga”. It is a great success that through this platform for the Sustainable Development Goals joint work, support came from the business sector and even municipalities, which led to a network of contacts and other donors.
This is how “Nasa Tezga” was created, the first women’s rural online market, for the online sale of agricultural products produced exclusively by women farmers from rural areas.
It didn’t take long for the news to spread about this brave and strong entrepreneurial move by women farmers, which further caused even greater interest among other donors and citizens.
“Donors from the donor circle encouraged us to make closer contacts with the whole community, who helped us to adjust the logo, to make at least three different packages of products that we will offer as promotional packages to firms, companies, and civil organizations, such as and establishing a complete system for ordering, for which we will also need the greatest expert support.” – Liljana Joneska, Rural Coalition.
The very installation of the platform and the media interest in the platform and the women who are part of it brought a strong promotion of the women themselves in terms of their life in the countryside, the rights they have, the challenges they face. Suddenly it began to arouse interest among different stakeholders: primarily donors, but also individuals, citizens, municipalities, with different types of support.
The effect of inter-sectoral cooperation means different types of support, from different stakeholders:
Through the “Name” project of the Swiss Embassy, the initiative received support from an academic institution, specifically from the FINKI faculty, whose students developed the platform.
An IT company pro bono created the logo and part of the site design.
A PR agency developed a pro bono marketing strategy for the launch and promotion of the “Nasa tezga” platform on social networks.
The portal “Vidi vaka” made a video with “Nasa tezga”, to the great satisfaction of the women farmers for whom the production of the video was a very exciting and proud moment.
The story of “Nasa tezga” is so strong and inspiring that it attracted the attention of the municipalities as well. As a positive example, the municipalities of Jegunovce and Brvenica promoted “Nasa tezga”, while the municipality of Ohrid went one step further with a promotional campaign for the purchase of products.
Rural Coalition continues to participate in national and social fairs for social entrepreneurship. Through the cooperation with the Center for Social Enterprises, women MPs were invited and presented with the initiative, as well as with specific data on what rural women need along with a proposal for legal changes to improve the status of female farmers.
The increased economic activities of Rural Coalition, which is already generating income, developed the organization in the direction that part of the team is already directed towards social entrepreneurship.
We expect a lot more support for the visionary ideas and hardworking hands of women artisans.
Targeted Goals:
“We, the women, will do our best to make this rural e-market unique not only in the country but also in the region!”
– [Silvana Petrushevska]
[Silvana Petrushevska] is a registered individual farmer from the village of Tumchevishte, Gostivar. She is one of the women who lives in the countryside and who, like the other women in the Rural Coalition, was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic with reduced sales of the agricultural products from which she and her family live.
[Silvana], on the other hand, is one of the first women to be registered as individual farmers and to have property in her name. When the initiative for online sales and the establishment of the rural women’s e-market started to develop, she was among the first women to promote her products on the platform and further convinced other women in the village to do the same.
The media promoted [Silvana’s] story, her family farm, her production, and her name was on all national and local TV media and portals. A report on the life of Zhivka was filmed on the regional TV Al Jazeera, and she was one of the women whose success story with hazelnut cultivation was told at the event organized on the occasion of the International Day of Rural Women – October 15. In addition, her income and sales of agricultural products increased by at least 10% in a period of 2 months since the intensive and frequent promotion of the platform began.
Most importantly, for [Silvana] and all 120 women farmers, this initiative is life-changing. “Nasa tezga” of Rural Coalition has the transformative role for the initiative in terms of improving the economic situation of rural women, as well as further strengthening their capacities, which further creates an opportunity for social entrepreneurship with sustainable development.
