How women in Serbia shape a sustainable food system
The development of a sustainable and inclusive food system in Serbia and the promotion of female leadership in this area are the main topics of the one-day WE Lead Food Local seminar, which brought together female entrepreneurs from the food sector. Through panels, workshops and constructive exchanges of opinions, the participants connected and networked with each other, but also jointly defined the steps towards creating a more sustainable food system.
The seminar is part of the wider WE Lead Food initiative, implemented by the EIT Food network, a platform that enables women to actively participate in the transformation of the food sector. The seminar was also an introduction to the WE Lead Food online program, whose new sessions begin in the fall. The program was introduced by Shima Barakat, program leader. The program consists of eight-week interactive modules and is intended for women from the food sector who want to work on individual projects and develop their leadership role through additional education, mentoring support and connections with global experts, and participants from Serbia are entitled to discounts.
- WE Lead Food is not another program that instructs women how to fit into the existing system, but an invitation to reshape the system themselves and take leading roles in it. The focus is on the exchange of knowledge, mutual support and the creation of concrete impact plans that will have long-term effects - said Annabel Sherwood, program manager of the WE Lead Food program, who presented the concept of the EIT Food Hub.
This was also an opportunity for female entrepreneurs from Serbia to share their experiences and examples of good practices that encourage the economic empowerment of women through innovative models in the agriculture and food industry sectors.
Thus, Jovana Prvulović, from the Will to Life association, presented the AMPLE project, which is implemented in Velika Plana and is focused on the employment of people with disabilities, women and the elderly in the food sector, and Zagorka Blaževska, the founder of Vita Nova, spoke about the AMPLE project in North Macedonia, which helps women of different age groups who want to start a business. Katarina Bugarski, the founder of the Snack Smart startup, which, through a mobile application, allows parents to order nutritionally balanced snacks for their children and collect them directly at school through vending machines, also shared her story.
Milica Golubović, coordinator for project management at NALED, presented ways of supporting women's entrepreneurship through the "Strong and important" project, which this association implements with the support of the British Embassy.
- Through the "Strong and Important" project, we want to empower women locally through training, expert support and grants. With the establishment of the Small Business Council in April, we are working on education and proposals for changes to regulations that would make business easier for entrepreneurs. - said Golubović and reminded that a call for grants within the project will be opened in the fall.
Making impact plans, as a key part of the seminar, helped the participants to turn their ideas into strategically designed steps towards concrete goals. The workshop, led by Ivana Radić Jean and Sanja Milosavljević, empowered the participants to formalize their ideas.
In an open call, NALED was chosen to be the EIT Food Hub for Serbia in the two-year period 2024-2025. Together with the Faculty of Agriculture in Novi Sad, NALED represents Serbia in the regional network of Food Hubs launched by the European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT), with the aim of accelerating innovations in food production and reducing carbon dioxide emissions, providing consumers with healthier and more affordable options in nutrition and improving food safety.
