Agricultural Development and Environmental Protection in Transylvania.
Fundația ADEPT, founded in 2004, is a biodiversity conservation and rural development NGO based in Saschiz, Romania.
+40 (0) 265 711 635
Email: office@fundatia-adept.org
Fundatia ADEPT Transilvania
Str. Principală, 166, Saschiz, Mureș, 547510, România
Design a local cheese value chain in the Saxon Villages area of Transylvania (Viscri & Hoghilag), which will give added value to the milk produced by grass-fed cows owned by family farmers in the region.
Funded by: The Carrefour Foundation
Project Duration: March 2019 - March 2020 (1 year)
Budget: 250.000 Euro
Viscri Farmers Association
Hoghilag Farmers Community
5,000 families in Târnava Mare
Consumers
Adding value to the milk produced in the area by designing and creating a local cheese value chain
Reduce poverty
Encourage people to stay in their family farms
The goal of the project is to design and create a local cheese value chain in the Saxon Villages area of Transylvania (Târnava Mare), which will give added value to the milk produced by grass-fed cows owned by family farmers in the region.
The Târnava Mare landscape is one of the last and richest landscapes in Europe in terms of biodiversity of the region. The cows grazing on these pastures in a “naturally organic” farming system produce a high quality milk which can be demonstrated scientifically, by analysis, to be especially rich in healthy and tasty compounds and elements. From this raw material, a cheese can be made that carries all its uniqueness and natural quality to the table of those consumers in Romania and around the world who are eager to value that quality.
This project aims to allow the farming communities (around 5.000 families) of the area, the stewards of this land, to give it the value it deserves through developing an entrepreneurial vision, differentiating their products from industrial quality commodity products, while at the same time escaping from the niche ‘trap’ that can restrict volume of sales and innovation in production, and ultimately allowing for the sustainable long term survival of these landscapes and their communities.
This project will help lift them from poverty and encourage young people to stay in the family farms.
Viscri and Hoghilag, like many villages in Romania (and not only Romania) suffer from lack of mutual trust which undermines their ability to withstand social and economic pressures. The project will be a catalyst for cooperation and trust.
Consumers will have better access to quality food and will also be more aware of the values of Romanian HNV farmed landscapes and more supportive of them in their purchasing choices.
We are now working on this project in partnership with Carrefour Foundation (France), Carrefour Romania, Orange Foundation and Earthworm Foundation (Switzerland)-formerly The Forest Trust (Switzerland).
Carrefour Foundation has generously donated €239,220 to the project.
With Carrefour Romania, we will also be exploring organic certification for small-scale farmers under their "Grow Romania Bio” programme.
Earthworm Foundation are providing essential expertise in product development and business development.
We have already had a few discussions with Viscri Farmers Association to set up the location of the micro-processing unit.
At Hoghilag, we coordinated the authorisation process for “Brânzeturi Hoghilag”, provided consultancy for obtaining additional funding, and facilitated participation in various consumer-facing events.
We also initiated discussions with representatives of the Sanitary Veterinary Directorate in order to obtain information regarding the rules and conditions that must be complied with from this perspective. We provide periodic consultancy to “Brânzeturi Hoghilag” in relation to the authorities.
The project is funded by the Carrefour Foundation. The link was made possible by the vision of the Earthworm Foundation. We will work closely with Earthworm’s Rurality Programme during implementation of the project.
