A 34-year-old agronomist in Kosovo has launched an initiative to create the most beautiful village in his country.
Armend Krasniqi was born and lives in the village of Studençan, in the south-central town of Suhareka.
As an avid cultivator of a myriad of cultures and flowers, he made the decision to plant some seeds in public spaces around the village. But soon, his little project snowballed into something much bigger than what he had originally planned.
“We planted flowers in a very small area. I took a picture of that and posted it on Facebook and nominated three friends to do the same, each of them had to nominate two others,” Krasniqi told Exit News.
Within a period of four to five days, with the help of other residents, he managed to secure funds to cover expenses for preparing other surrounding areas and planting them with more flowers.
“Until now we have planted around 4,000 flowers and the initiative has been welcomed heartily from the residents of our village and beyond,” Krasniqi says.
He wants to emphasize that those who pushed forward his initiative were former residents of the village who have long migrated abroad.
“I have received dozens of phone calls from the United States, Germany, Switzerland and other countries,” he said, adding that they kept insisting on being nominated.
“Some of them said ‘I will cover all costs’, others gave even better ideas on how the village should look like. One of them phoned me in the middle of the night insisting on paying ‘a symbolic’ amount, which turned out to be the biggest we have received,” Krasniqi described.
As people’s support kept getting bigger, Krasniqi decided to also install a drip watering system in the planted areas. According to Krasniqi, this is the first case in Kosovo of a public space being endowed with the latest modern watering system.
“The project cost less than what government officials pay for a dinner, around EUR 2,000,” he says, stressing that young people are not really interested in working in agriculture.
“This happens because there is no trade guarantee […] even though we started signing contracts with companies which export to other countries,” he explains.
He called on young citizens to be more involved in agricultural projects and work the land.
“Because agriculture is and will be the art of cultivating the land, while land is the source of all possibilities,” Krasniqi said.
He calls on society to contribute and make the country look beautiful, as it is one of the few opportunities to attract foreign visitors.
