Lorîn is a co-operative dedicated to the conservation of seasonal fruits and vegetables. They began in the summer of 2016, and produce preserves to sell in their communities and in the markets.
The food company Lorîn employs a lot of women who make jams, dried vegetables and winter foods, like makdous and pickles. The women also make food for the YPG/J. Hevgirtin buys products from Lorîn and sells them to the co-operatives, which bring them to the consumers at affordable prices.
“At the beginning, our husbands did not support us, but afterwards they realised the importance of this project. The only capital that we had were our hands, and we wanted to use them to participate”, says Sozda, one of the new member-workers, “and we had the idea of assembling an agricultural co-operative to directly produce the fruits and vegetables that we need for our preserves”.
There are 21 co-operative societies in Qamishlo that are embodying the ideas of communal and participatory life, creating a collective environment at work, and building solidarity among the members of society.
After the announcement of the Democratic Self Administration in 2014, institutions were organised and local councils and committees were formed which concentrated their efforts on the economic situation in the region. One of the missions of the Economic Committee was to support the agricultural, industrial and commercial projects throughout Rojava, with the aim of reaching self-sufficiency, curbing monopoly and exploitation, reducing unemployment and activating the work force, both male and female.
The year 2016 was characterised by the advance of economic projects that aimed to improve the communal economy in Rojava, especially the projects that were connected to women.
A journey into the heart of the revolution and the strategies of transition towards a social economy: the multiplication of communes and cooperatives, and experimentation with new models of social, political and economic organisation.
