Recovery of agriculture in the difficult years of economic crisis

Eurostat says that agriculture now has 22.2% of the Albanian economy, from 19.4% that it used to have by the end of 2013. This also shows a drop of the other sectors, such as the construction one.

However, the agriculture sector has faced the crisis better than other branches, turning into a shield for the national economy in its most difficult years.

Agriculture, the locomotive of economy?

Different from the other countries of the region, agriculture has a bigger weight in the economy of Albania. Experts are skeptical if the economy could rely on agriculture, but the former Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Ndoc Fasllia, says that the potentials of this sector are good.

“If agriculture contributes with 2.5 billion USD, you must be sure that the potentials of this sector for guaranteeing an economic growth is three to four times bigger”, Fasllia declared.

But where will this growth come from? The answer is given by the current Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Alban Zusi.

“We have hundreds of thousands of unused terrains and very low yields. Another potential of this sector is improving the cultures and changing the planting structure”, Zusi said.

The value of the contribution of an Albanian farmer in economy is lower than the average of the European Union or than in the other countries of the region. Zusi says that the key for increasing productivity is getting this sector on the market’s tracks.

But the former Deputy Minister, Fasllia, thinks that the commercialization of agriculture will be difficult if property sale is not encouraged. This, according to him, requires an intervention from the state, as mediator in this process.

“A fund for buying agricultural property from the government. The government should become a mediator between farmers and big enterprises. After the property is bought, the government can lease it or sell it to big enterprises which are ready and have the liquidity to invest in agriculture”, Fasllia declared.

Experts may be divided by politics, but they all agree for the fact that agriculture is recovering. And in this new difficult economic environment, agriculture might be one of the sectors with the biggest potential for growing the national economy and revenues of families.

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