Behar
Formed in March 2003, 'Behar' is an agricultural
association specialising in the production of fruit.
'Behar', which means blossom in local language, is based
in Koraj, a village in the northeast of Bosnia and
Herzegovina (BiH).
 Before
the war, Koraj was famous for its fruit production and was
home to a total of 915 households. Today, approximately
350 returnee families live in Koraj. Average pre-war fruit
production was more than 1000 tonnes and the local
community had over 300,000 fruit-bearing trees, the
highest number in all BiH.
 The
first people began to return to Koraj in 1999 and today, the return process is ongoing. 'Behar' was selected for assistance from Mercy Corps last year and they received two drying machines. 'Behar' members can use these machines to dry their products as dried fruits bring better prices than fresh, particularly out of season.
 Now,
the association would like to take the next step in production and further develop the capacity of these
dryers with UMCOR 's assistance. They would like to set up a production line including facilities and machinery for processing and packaging dried plums, apricots and apples. This will strengthen their market-oriented production and enable them to sell to large wholesalers, onto urban markets and will provide them with the opportunity to develop a wider customer-base. 'Behar' plans to use UMCOR
funding to reconstruct their premises (see photos above left and right) which they would use for storage,
packaging and processing. UMCOR funding would be used to procure the necessary machinery for production, packaging and processing.
Repayment is defined as a form of community
contribution, namely association will have to reinvest
app. 10,000 KM worth of seedlings of fruits to the new
members and people of the local community.
Members of 'Behar' have taken part in a variety of
UMCOR training and capacity building activities including
'Subsidies in Agriculture' and 'Training in Agricultural
Associations - Four Basic Principles of Associations'.
 Being
able to dry, process and package fruit will bring many
benefits for 'Behar' members. The season when products are
harvested and sold is often short and there will be a glut
of such products at this time which forces down prices.
Farmers that can dry their product and also have access to
packaging and processing can sell products all year round
and for better prices, in other words they have regular
and improved income generation opportunities. Moreover,
dried and packaged goods can be transported to towns and
cities more easily, for sale at markets or through shops
and supermarkets. In other words, packaged goods can reach
a much broader and potentially more affluent customer
base.
Return to "Building Reintegrated and Prosperous Communities."
Updated November 2004
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