In the years following the breakup of Yugoslavia, Kosovos vegetable-processing industry collapsed.

State-owned VEGETABLE PROCESSORS DEVELOP enterprises vanished with few privately owned firms filling the void. Today, USAID is helping Kosovo restart the pickling, EXPORT canning and preserving of vegetables on an industrial scale. That effort targets the entire value chainfrom engaging farmers to grow vegetables specifically for domestic processing, to encouraging processors to focus on Photo: Musli Berisha technology, efficiency and quality. RIZONA is among Kosovos most promising vegetable processors. From an initial focus on vegetable collection center serving the domestic market, the firm now eyes the European export market with pickled vegetables. Rizona began in 2010 export with agreement first 10 tons for local markets its Rizona discussing with German food distributor Kelmendi 16 employees63% of them womenpickling peppers. This GmbH year, the firm distributed 80 tons of processed products in Germany. To help Rizona expand further, this time abroad, USAIDs New Opportunities for Agriculture (NOA) project facilitated the firms first foreign sales especially new pepper variety kebap Photo: Musli Berisha pepper tested first ever in Kosovo. NOA helped Rizona contract with Germanys Kelmendi GmbH, a food distributor that caters to Kosovos large European migr population, for an initial 10 tons of new product beside the 70 tons of somborka variety . In 2013, Rizona anticipates exporting another 100 tons of product to Finlanda tenfold increase. Other local food processors, such as Ask Foods, also have Rizona processing unit. commenced exports. These exports will benefit more than just processors. Indeed, they should favor Kosovos farmers as well, who stand to see increases in farm revenues, wages and employment. Increased exports also should reduce Kosovos substantial U.S. Agency for International trade deficit, and decrease spoilage. Indeed, a lack of Development postharvest storage capacity has meant thousands of tons of
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