BBC Radio 4 LW

In Business

Factual: Money

Series about the world of work from vast corporations to modest volunteers

Series of programmes about the whole world of work, public and private, from vast corporations to modest volunteers

In Business: Belarus: Harvesting the whirlwind

Belarus: Harvesting the whirlwind

BBC Radio 4 - In Business, Belarus: Harvesting the whirlwind

How does an economy recover after a catastrophic event.

The area around Chernobyl was once home to large, prosperous and lively collective farms, until the reactor's explosion in 1986.  How's the local economy now recovering?

The irradiated lands around the Chernobyl nuclear reactor were large, prosperous, and lively collective farms until the reactor exploded in 1986. Seventy percent of the toxic radiation fell in Belarus – a small, agrarian country in which most people lived on the land. Hundreds of villages were evacuated, but much of the population has since returned. A generation later In Business visits the Belarussian contamination zone and its hinterland to see how the local economy and way of life has adapted to a world turned upside down. We meet the beekeepers developing a honey farm in the depopulated part of the zone, visit an unexpected herd of horses and hear about the innovations in arable farming designed to resist radioactive toxins.

Produced and presented by Monica Whitlock

BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

In Business

Belarus: Harvesting the whirlwind

Genres

Brand

BBC Radio 4 LW

About BBC Radio 4