Post by Emperor AAdmin on Dec 18, 2021 8:25:14 GMT -5
Donkey Milk Firm Bucks Downward Trend for Bosnian Businesses
FEATURE
Donkey Milk Firm Bucks Downward Trend for Bosnian Businesses
Donkey farm. Photo: Courtesy of Mali Farmer
Redzo EfendicZavidoviciBIRNApril 29, 202107:12
Benefitting from a belief among some that donkey milk helps ailing lungs, a donkey farm
in Bosnia is turning a profit where others are not.
While many businesses were left reeling from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic last
year, Alen Jusupovic turned a tidy profit.
A donkey farmer in the central Bosnian town of Zavidovici, 32 year-old Jusupovic’s business,
‘Mali [Little] Farmer’, has been kept afloat by sales of donkey milk to Bosnians who believe it
helps with respiratory ailments.
Some people believe that donkey milk has healing properties due to its high concentrations of
protein and colostrums, a form of milk produced by mammals in late pregnancy and which
contains antibodies that protect against disease.
While stressing that donkey milk “does not cure COVID-19,” Jusupovic said he had witnessed
some health benefits.
“Through the experience of my daily customers I have noticed that it helps with lung diseases
and asthma,” he told BIRN. “In situations like this, people are desperate to find a cure, so
that’s why they buy donkey milk.”
“I have had positive numbers during the pandemic,” he said.
The same cannot be said of a lot of businesses in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the Statistics
Agency estimates that economic output contracted by 4.5 per cent in 2020, more than the
World Bank’s 3.6 per cent forecast for the Western Balkans as a whole.
“According to our analysis, the opinion of the profession is that the decline is greater than this
stated rate,” said macroeconomic analyst Faruk Hadzic.
‘Wrong solutions’
Donkey farm. Photo: Courtesy of Mali Farmer
In a report published on April 1, the World Bank said it expected gross domestic product,
GDP, to grow by 2.8 per cent this year, again behind the 4.4 per cent average forecast
for the region.
The worst hit sectors were retail, manufacturing, transportation and accommodation,
driving up an unemployment rate that was already among the worst in Europe.
In Zenica-Doboj Canton, where Jusupovic’s donkey farm is located, industry bodies say the
efforts of cash-strapped authorities to soften the economic impact of COVID-19 restrictions
have fallen short.
“Since March last year, the Association unfortunately had no interlocutors with whom they
could discuss preventing the negative effects of the pandemic on the economy,” said
Senaida Turkic, board president at the Association of Employers in Zenica, 60 kilometres
northwest of the capital, Sarajevo.
“The authorities do not know what they should do, so a lot of wrong solutions have been
applied that will have a negative impact on the economy in the future,” Turkic told BIRN.
When restrictions were imposed a year ago, local authorities in Zenica-Doboj Canton
spent a little over 3.7 million Bosnian marka, roughly 1.8 million euros, to help tide over
local businesses, from wage support to the covering of administrative costs and rebates
on interest paid on bank loans.
In a statement to BIRN, the cantonal economy ministry said it an economic development
program for 2021-2024 was still under development, so it was unable to comment on
plans for this year.
On the health front, Bosnia is struggling badly, with only 130,000 vaccines procured so
far, most of them as donations, for a population of some 3.5 million people. More than
6,500 people have died as a result of COVID-19 infections so far, with cases surging of late.
Jusupovic’s farm resembles an idyllic retreat, offering fresh air, donkey milk cosmetics and
rides on some of his 105 donkeys. The business will turn 10 years old next year; Jusupovic
said the pandemic had taught business-owners an important lesson:
Beyond help from the state, “It is also important that entrepreneurs do everything in their
power to be as ready as possible for the external influences that business and the market
brings,” he said.
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