Agriculture in Albania

Agriculture in Albania is still a significant sector of the economy of Albania, which contributes to 22.5% of the country's GDP.[1] The country spans 28,748 square kilometres (11,100 square miles) of which 24% is agricultural land, 36% forest land, 15% pasture and meadow and 25% urban areas including lakes, waterways, unused rocky and mountain land.[2] It can be separated into three main zones such as the lowland zone alongside the coastline of the country, the hill zone in the lowland and the mountain zone.

The Albanian Riviera and its olive and citrus plantations.
Economy of Albania
Overview
Albanian topics

The country encompasses coastal plains in the west to the Albanian Alps in the north, the Sharr Mountains in the northeast, Skanderbeg Mountains in the center, Korab Mountains in the east, Pindus Mountains in the southeast and Ceraunian Mountains in the southwest along the Albanian Riviera. The Mediterranean Sea, which includes the Adriatic and Ionian, makes up the entire west border of Albania.

The country experiences mostly mediterranean climate with continental influences.[3] That means that the climate is characterised by mild winters and hot, dry summers. The warmest areas of the country are along the west, where climate is profoundly impacted by the sea. The coldest parts of the country are at the north and east, where snowy forested climate is prevalent.

In 1990, domestic farm products accounted for 63% of household expenditures and 25% of exports. As part of the pre-accession process of Albania to the European Union, farmers are being aided through IPA funds to improve the Albanian agriculture standards.[4]

As of the Ministry of Agriculture the exports of vegetables and fruits have doubled over the first months of 2017. However, the exports of fish, seafood and marine products have also increased by 35 percent.[5]

One of the earliest farming sites in Europe has been found in Southeastern Albania.[6]

Aquaculture
A mussel cultivation facility in Lake Butrint.

Both the Adriatic and Ionian Sea inside the Mediterranean Sea are a source of salt water fishing, while fresh water fishing occurs on Lake Butrint, Lake Shkodër, Lake Ohrid, Lake Prespa as well as in Karavasta Lagoon, Narta Lagoon and Patos Lagoon. The country's coast is estimated to be 381 kilometres (237 mi) long.[7] The country's great availability of water gives the underdeveloped fishing industry great potential to become a major part of the local economy.[8][9][10] Although the fishing industry is still in a transition process despite significant development and processing capacities inherited from the past.

Fish farming in Zus, Shkodër County.

Extensive marine fish cultivation has been practiced in the country in the 1950s.[11] The marine finfish industry is an inshore and offshore sea cage-farming sector. Trouts are developed mainly in the southeast, southwest and north, while carps are primary found in the center and north. Marine finfish culture is dominated by species including rainbow trout, european bass, gilt-head bream, common carp, silver carp, bighead carp, grass carp and ohrid trout.[12][13]

Mussels are widespread throughout the south of the country and particularly cultivated in Lake Butrint along the proximity to the Ionian Sea.[14] In 1980, almost 80 mussel cultivation facilities were constructed with an average production of about 2,000 tonnes per year, while in 1989 it increased to 5,000 tonnes per year.[14][15] Although in Shëngjin operates as well a smaller facility of about 100 hectares. Following the end of communism and outbreak of cholera in 1990, the production declined sharply and opened again in 2000.[14][16][12]

The cultivation of shrimps began around the end of communism in Albania.[12] The country's only extensive shrimp cultivation facility is located in Narta Lagoon, whence the Vjosa River drains into the Adriatic Sea. Within the Karaburun-Sazan Marine Park, there has been 50 species of crustaceans recorded which indicates that the region is a potential location for cultivation.[17]

Viticulture
Main article: Albanian wine
Grapes in Berat.

Albania is the 42nd largest producer of wine in the world. The country has one of Europe`s longest history of viticulture and belongs chronologically to the old world of wine producing countries.[18][19][20][21] The most important wine regions of the country are located in the center but also the mountainous areas in the north, east and south.[22][23] Following the end of communism in the 20th century, the development and fortunes of the Albanian wine industry were deeply influenced by the economic influences of the country.

In 1912, gained widespread popularity among the local population but was almost destroyed in 1933 by phylloxera. A significant upturn began only after the Second World War, at the end of which wine was still cultivated on only 2,737 hectares (27.37 km2). The most producing region of wine was Durrës County, where grapes was grown on communist state enterprises. In that time the nationwide acreage corresponded approximately to that of tobacco, but was significantly lower than that of olive and fruit trees. The exported wine was consumed primarily in Western Europe such as in Germany.

Moreover, the exports of wine decreased continuously from 61,000 hectoliters in 1971 to 22,000 hectoliters in 1985. The reasons are to be found mainly in outdated production conditions and insufficient technical material that made it difficult to transport and lowered the quality. On the other hand, the export of easily transportable graisins was continuously in increase (up to 3500 tons per year), while the export of fresh grapes was marginal.

Production
Albanian sheep pasture

The main agricultural products in the country are tobacco, figs, olives, wheat, maize, potatoes, vegetables, fruits, sugar beets, grapes, meat, honey, dairy products, and traditional medicine and aromatic plants.

Agriculture accounts for 18.9% of the GDP and a large portion of the exports. However, it is limited primarily to small family operations and subsistence farming because of lack of modern equipment, unclear property rights, and the prevalence of small, inefficient plots of land. The post-1990 land fragmentation, uncertain land ownership, lack of state registries and bank crediting, and high VAT are all obstacles to a modern agricultural industry. There is also a concern that agricultural products originating from Albania are being stamped as 'Product of Turkey' for the international market.

The agricultural scene is gradually changing with the introduction of cooperatives, foreign investment, farmer formalization, and the construction of collection and distribution centers.

Albania has soils and a climate favorable to an extensive lumber industry. Many of the historic forests of Albania were destroyed with inefficient wood industry and expanse of agricultural land in the 1990s. Today, forests cover about one third of Albania's land area and, due to an agreement with Italy and the World Bank, there is a large amount of reforestation underway.

Albania is the 11th largest producer of olive oil.[24]

Horticulture

Albania produces a wide variety of fruits, nuts and vegetables, while its production is constantly growing.[25]

International rankings
Crop (total production) Rank Countries reviewed
Plums and Sloes[26] (Total production) 2014 3185
Grapes[27] (Total production) 2014 3690
Watermelones[28] (Total production) 2014 40130
Fruits[29] (Total production; without melones) 2014 98205
Figs[30] (Total production) 2014 1152
Cucumbers[31] (Total production) 2014 39133
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See also

Further reading

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Library of Congress Country Studies website http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/.

References
  1. Food and Agriculture Organization. "Albania: FAO Country Programming Framework in the Republic of Albania 2015-2017" (PDF). fao.org. p. 7.
  2. Prof. Andrea Shundi. "Albania". fao.org.
  3. Ministry of Environment of Albania. "Albania's Second National Communication to the Conference of Parties under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change" (PDF). unfccc.int. Tirana. p. 28.
  4. "IPA National Programme 2011 for Albania Project Fiche 7: Support to Agriculture and Rural Development" (PDF). Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  5. agroweb (26 April 2017). "Dyfishohet eksporti i fruta-perimeve, 3-fishohet ai i vezëve". agroweb.org (in Albanian).
  6. "UC Research Reveals One of the Earliest Farming Sites in Europe". Uc.edu. 2012-04-16. Archived from the original on 2015-09-10. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  7. Sustainable Development of Sea-Corridors and Coastal Waters: The TEN ECOPORT project in South East Europe (Chrysostomos Stylios, Tania Floqi, Jordan Marinski, Leonardo Damiani ed.). Springer. 2015-04-07. p. 85. ISBN 9783319113852.
  8. Aleksander Flloko. "Fish marketing and trading in Albania" (PDF). faoadriamed.org. p. 5.
  9. Center for International Development, Harvard University. "INCREASING EXPORTS OF ALBANIAN CULTIVATED FISH TO THE EU" (PDF). growthlab.cid.harvard.edu.
  10. "Organic Agriculture in Albania" (PDF). orgprints.org. p. 7.
  11. University of British Columbi (2 July 2017). "Reconstruction of Albania fishery catches by fishing gear" (PDF). seaaroundus.org. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-07-02.
  12. Food and Agriculture Organization. "Albania". fao.org.
  13. Viola Prifti and Fan Noli University. "ARTIFICIAL FERTILIZATION OF THE OHRID TROUT AND THE PRESENCE OF ITS SUMMER FORM IN THE LAKE" (PDF). animalsciencejournal.usamv.ro.
  14. Center for International Development, Harvard University. "CONDITIONS FOR RE-OPENING EXPORTS OF ALBANIAN MUSSELS TO THE EU" (PDF). albania.growthlab.cid.harvard.edu. p. 4.
  15. Aleksi Pëllumb; Ceschia Giuseppe; Sulaj Kapllan. "First report of Marteiliosis in Mytilus galloprovincialis in Albania" (PDF). sipi-online.it. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-09.
  16. D Greco; I Luizzi; A Sallabanda; A Dibra; E Kacarricy; L Shapo. "Cholera in the Mediterranean: outbreak in Albania". eurosurveillance.org.
  17. Lefter KASHTA; Sajmir BEQIRAJ; Virginie TILOT; Violeta ZUNA; Eno DODBIBA. "THE FIRST MPA IN ALBANIA, SAZANI ISLAND – KARABURUNI PENINSULA, AS A REGIONAL PRIORITY CONSERVATION AREA FOR MARINE BIODIVERSITY" (PDF). zrsvn.si. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-19. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
  18. Tom Stevenson (2011). The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia. Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 978-1-4053-5979-5.
  19. PATTI MORROW (5 January 2017). "Why Albania Is A Great Destination For Wine Drinkers". epicureandculture.com.
  20. The Oxford Companion to Wine (Julia Harding, Jancis Robinson ed.). Oxford University Press, 2015. ISBN 9780198705383.
  21. The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia (Tom Stevenson ed.). London: Dorling Kindersley. 2005. ISBN 0-7566-1324-8.
  22. Oxford Companion to Wine (Jancis Robinson ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2015. p. 10. ISBN 9780198705383.
  23. Petraq Ilollari (Sotiri) (2010). Vitis Vinifera në vendin tonë/Vitis Vinifera in Our Country. pp. 8–13.
  24. "Top 25 Olive Oil Producing Countries". Archived from the original on 2019-05-24. Retrieved 2017-04-16.
  25. "COMPETITIVENESS OF ALBANIAN AGRICULTURE: VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS FOR FRUITS AND VEGETABLES SUB-SECTOR IN FIER REGION" (PDF). ifama.org.
  26. "Plums and sloes, production quantity (tons) - for all countries".
  27. "Grapes, production quantity (tons) - for all countries".
  28. "Watermelons, production quantity (tons) - for all countries".
  29. "Fruits without melons, total, production quantity (tons) - for all countries". factfish.com. Archived from the original on 2019-05-24. Retrieved 2017-04-16.
  30. "Figs, production quantity (tons) - for all countries". factfish.com.
  31. "Cucumbers and gherkins, production quantity (tons) - for all countries". factfish.com.
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