MILK production in Kosovo

ita eng
11 February 2011

From milking to delivery. A day in the Kosovan countryside, in Klinë/Klina, in the company of a breeders family. Text by Francesco Gradari, photos by Paolo Tarantini [January 2011]

 

Up early
Mark and his family's day starts at sunrise.
All together
The whole family takes part in the process, intervening at different stages of the milk processing chain.
Tradition
Everyone has a specific task, set by tradition.
Milking
Women are assigned the precious and hard task of milking.
The cowshed
Kids help adults manage the cowshed and the pastures.
Men
Whereas men deal with external relations and business.
Collection points
They are the ones who take the milk to the collection centres along bumpy roads.
Dairies
They are the ones who deal with relations with other producers and the local dairies.
Agriculture
The dairy sector is fundamental in order to relaunch an economy with a strong agricultural slant as is the Kosovan one.
More milk
From '99 to this day milk production has increased at the regional level, due to an improvement of the bovine gene pool and breeders' skills.
European standards
However, much more needs to be done in order for local production to meet European standards, especially in terms of product transformation and marketing.
The MILK project
Through the MILK Project, Milk-processing Initiative to Link Kosovo to Europe, funded by EU, the NGO 'RTM Reggio Terzo Mondo' (http://www.reggioterzomondo.org/) supports five milk producer associations of the Pejë/Peć region.
Local products
The goal is the creation of a dairy cooperative that will start producing local quality cheeses to be sold on the local market.
The centre
The cheese production centre will be set up in Klinë/Klina on the premises of a former veterinary station.
Collective centre
Up until a few weeks ago, this bulding was used as a collective centre for Albanian families made homeless in '99, that now have been moved into public housing premises.
The authors
Photos by Paolo Tarantini (http://www.paolotarantini.com), text by Francesco Gradari. "This pubblication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents, however, are the sole responsibility of the NGO RTM - Reggio Terzo Mondo and can in no way be considered to reflect the views of the European Union".