For 12 years, Swisscontact’s Promoting Private Sector Employment (PPSE) project, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), has played a catalytic role in reorienting Kosovo’s agricultural sector toward a more inclusive, resilient, and market-responsive system. Implemented using a market systems development (MSD) approach, the project worked across vegetables, fruits, non-wood forest products (NWFPs), and medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs), unlocking economic opportunity for thousands of rural producers and processors.
When PPSE began in 2013, Kosovo’s agricultural economy was shaped by small plot sizes, outdated technologies, and weak service ecosystems. Nearly 90% of fruits and vegetables were sold fresh to informal local markets; only 10% entered processing. Domestic products represented just 10% of supermarket offerings.
PPSE’s work began at the system’s roots: transforming input markets and advisory services. Through strategic partnerships with input dealers and nurseries, the project expanded access to climate-resilient hybrid seeds, introduced modern seedling production, and embedded technical advice into commercial relationships. These interventions increased agricultural productivity by 9.3% since 2015, reversing a decades-long stagnation.
A breakthrough innovation came through the contracted production model, first piloted in 2014. By formalizing relationships between producers, collection centers, and processors, the model reduced market risk for farmers, stabilized input flows for SMEs, and anchored investments in aggregation infrastructure.
From a modest pilot with 30 hectares, the model scaled to over 3,875 hectares and 1,677 farmers by 2022, with 85% of processors now sourcing locally. PPSE’s facilitation not only proved the concept but also enabled sector-wide replication beyond the project’s direct partners, demonstrating a classic MSD “crowding-in” effect.
PPSE also tackled the challenge of upgrading processing capacity and product diversification. With targeted technical assistance and co-investment, local SMEs launched organic teas, fruit bars, functional foods, and ready-to-eat meals. These were aligned with changing consumer preferences in Kosovo and abroad.
Turnover in the food processing sector nearly doubled, from €31 million in 2019 to €60 million in 2023. Exports surged from €10 million in 2014 to over €78 million in 2023, with Kosovo now the 7th largest exporter of MAPs and NWFPs to the EU.
To access high-value markets, the project supported partners like Organika to expand organic certification services, benefiting SMEs and over 20,000 rural families. Organic MAP production grew from 174 ha in 2017 to over 1,200 ha in 2023. Certification uptake rose steadily even after support tapered, showing early signs of systemic sustainability.
Gender inclusion was central to this transformation. Women now hold 80% of agri-processing jobs, and women-led firms like Bliff Organik are exporting to European buyers thanks to improved product development and branding.
What started as a series of tactical interventions evolved into a coordinated, evidence-driven sector transformation. The FNI sector now enjoys greater scale efficiency, improved coordination, better access to finance, and deeper institutional support. Critically, PPSE’s role was not to lead, but to enable - de-risking innovation, aligning incentives, and building platforms for replication.
As the program concludes in 2025, its real success lies in how market actors, public and private, now lead the transformation. Government entities like MAFRD and KIESA have adopted similar co-financing and market facilitation strategies, and associations like PePeKo and Organika continue to drive sectoral growth.