In pictures: Supporting small businesses
Oxfam is supporting a co-operative of grape growers in Hajmel to improve and package their Zadrima wine.
![The Zadrima region of Albania. [Photo credit: Marie Cacace]](images/landscape.jpg "[Photo credit: Marie Cacace]")
The Zadrima region of Albania where the town of Hajmel lies has been renowned for grape cultivation for centuries – a book dating back to the middle ages records the first Albanians planting grapes for wine production in the region. Yet wine producers in this fertile region are facing many challenges
Photo: Marie Cacace
![Grapes in the town of Hajmel, Zadrima region of Albania. [Photo credit: Marie Cacace]](images/grapes.jpg "[Photo credit: Marie Cacace]")
“Trying to reach out to the global market is difficult; how can small farmers like us with little by way of technology, investment or marketing skills and no subsidies compete with wine producers in France, Spain and Italy?” explains Zef a wine farmer from Hajmel.
Photo: Marie Cacace
![Zef pressing grapes for wine production. [Photo credit: Marie Cacace]](images/zef.jpg "[Photo credit: Marie Cacace]")
With help from Oxfam, Zef and other local farmers have now created Albania’s first official co-operative since the communist era.
“Getting our wine out to market seemed impossible a few years ago. Can you believe that we used to press the grapes with our feet? It was but a dream to sell our wine under our own brand, but now you find Zadrima wine in supermarkets and restaurants all over Shkodra. Our next goal will be to sell our wine to Tirana and international markets,” he explains.
Photo: Marie Cacace
![A bottle of Zadrima wine. [Photo credit: Christian Guthier]](images/zadrima.jpg "[Photo credit: Christian Guthier]")
Through training from international experts in vineyard management, marketing and technology, farmers like Zef are overcoming obstacles and challenging foreign competitors.
Together with Oxfam’s investment in technology to process and store the wine, the quality of Zadrima wine has improved so much so that there is now a high demand for it.
Photo: Christian Guthier
![Zef pressing grapes. [Photo credit: Marie Cacace]](images/zef2.jpg "[Photo credit: Marie Cacace]")
The success of Zef’s co-operative is also inspiring other grape farmers in the region to develop their farms.
”We’re reinvesting our profits into the co-operatives. Every year the surface of our vineyards increases, as does the quality of our product. Our incomes increases as does the quality of our lives. We can spend more money on our family’s clothes, education and food. We are a living example of what people can accomplish with a little support, “ says Zef smiling.
Photo: Marie Cacace
