Empowering rural women through creating small sustainable businesses

Challenge 

Many women in Debar and Centar Župa are unemployed and lack regular income, yet only a few are registered as job seekers. As a result, their local knowledge and traditional skills remain underused, bringing limited benefit to them or the region. At the same time, lack of opportunities drives rural-to-urban migration. The project addressed this by connecting women’s skills, products, and knowledge to the tourism value chain.

Objective

The project provided practical guidance to rural women in Debar and Centar Župa to establish sustainable businesses based on traditional products. By linking these products to tourism, this enriched offer and countered rural depopulation. While the initial target was 10 women, 20 women were included. Sustainability was ensured through promotion in tourism facilities.

Approach

The project used an educational approach based on exchange of good agro-tourism practices and women-led small businesses. Twenty rural women were trained through workshops and study visits in North Macedonia and Albania. They developed nine traditional product series and one service, and all businesses were connected with three tourism facilities to ensure sustainability.

Achieved Results

The project empowered 20 rural women from Debar and Centar Župa to develop sustainable small businesses based on traditional products. Ten business plans were finalized, covering nine series of different products and one traditional catering service. In total more than 20 different products were produced. Products were branded and presented at local fairs. The project exceeded expectations by engaging young artists, producing videos, and creating income opportunities.