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Europrise and the Grozova Project

 by Aidan Arnold
The name Chernobyl is indelibly etched into history books for all the wrong reasons. It was 26th April 1986 when their nuclear reactor caught fire with disastrous  consequences.
Chernobyl is situated in the Ukraine, south of Belarus, but because of the prevailing winds at the time Belarus took the brunt of the accident. Deadly radioactive dust drifted silently across the skies, showing no regard for borders, people or property. By the time the world woke up to what was happening hundreds of thousands of acres had been contaminated and Belarussians were left with a legacy of sickness and disease stretching into the next millennium. Because of the heavy rain, which some people claim was artificially induced by Russian aircrafts spraying chemicals into the atmosphere, the radioactive fallout was prevented from travelling to large cities such as Moscow or Saint Petersburg. Instead 75% of the fallout was deposited on the fields, roofs and heads of Belarussians
 Belarus was a poor enough country at the time, but the accident at Chernobyl transformed it overnight into a country in desperate need. Ironically it had once been known as the wheat producing bread basket of the Soviet Union before the Second World War. That was one of the reasons why Hitler targeted them, killing 1.3 million people in the process. Belarus 
Aidan Arnold with teacher from Grozova orphanage

 After collectivisation of the country in the 1930’s (when 100,000 were executed by Stalin), invasion by Hitler, submission and years of neglect, the land was left impoverished, their industrial base was limited and their agricultural methods were backward. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Belarus passed the Right to Land Ownership Bill, allowing farmers to lease only up to a maximum of 50 hectares on a long term lease. This law ensured that a modern private farming sector could not develop and that farming would stay in the hands of government which owned the collective and state farms. The average size of a private farm in 1993 was 21 hectares compared with 3,114 hectares on average for collective farms and 3,052 hectares for state farms. The number of private holdings has increased dramatically since then, but average farm size remains small. The situation is changing, but at a much slower pace than in other East European and Baltic countries. On September 2003 the International Minsk Times reported that there were 50 agricultural enterprises under a non-state form of ownership. These comprised of joint stock companies, joint ventures and farming enterprises but did not refer to small private farms.

Europrise is the Irish daughter company of Bejo Zaden. As sales manager of Europrise, I got a small insight into farming in Belarus in 2003/4 when I participated in a charitable project there. Grozova School Orphanage is situated on a 200 acre farm in the north of the country. It caters for around 200 children ranging in ages from 10 to 16.

Chernobyl Aid Ireland was formed in 1996 to ensure that the maximum benefit was derived from charitable aid being sent to Belarus. In October 1997 a small group of aid workers set out in search of a specific location in desperate need of help. They found Grozeva which was particularly deprived even by Belarussian standards. They first arrived in the middle of winter with sub-zero temperatures and snow on the ground. It was shower time for the children, but with no hot running water and only one shower in an outhouse for 200 children, it was more like a desperate cry for help.

Liam Grant, an ambulance driver from Waterford, spearheaded the project. The cry for help was answered with a steady stream of volunteers, aid and money. In five years Chernobyl Aid transformed the orphanage into a happy and rewarding place. Today old buildings have been beautifully renovated, school facilities have been built, there is money to pay wages, to feed and educate the children and to develop the farm hopefully to its full potential.

In 2003 Europrise donated a range of  Bejo vegetable seeds to Grozova. With help and advice from Europrise, and from Stephen Alexander of the Irish State Horticultural Advisory Body Teagasc, the orphanage successfully grew carrots, cabbage, beetroot and potatoes. The older children helped in the fields, the younger ones preferred to eat the crops. Some vegetables were sold to generate income for the orphanage, but most of it went towards supplementing the diet of 200 hungry children and the accompanying staff.

 After a visit to Belarus under the guiding and persuasive influence of Marie Henry, a Chernobyl Aid worker from Dunshaughlin in County Meath, it was agreed to buy 35 pigs and four tonnes of pig feed to start up a piggery on the farm. In October 2004 the first pigs were slaughtered.

Grozova orphanage is now self sufficient in pork meat as well as in vegetables and potatoes. It also has its own dairy unit supplying milk and cheese. They have come a long way from that day in 1997 when the outhouse cold shower was shared between 200 children.

People such as Liam Grant and Marie Henry have attracted volunteers from all walks of life – builders, farmers, advisors and literally anyone who has anything to contribute. The Grozova project is a shining example of what can be achieved as long as there is the will to achieve it. Europrise are delighted to have played a small part in this excellent project.