Farmers return to conventional methods

TIRANA, May 1 – Unable to afford staggering fuel prices, Albanian farmers in remote areas have turned to medieval methods to plough land using animal drawn implements. These methods have become widespread in Korca and Dibra villages, local media report.
According to Albania’s Institute of Statistics, INSTAT, some 506,000 people, half of Albania’s total labour force, are automatically considered self-employed in the agriculture sector because of possessing land.
With fuel prices at historical record high of almost 200 Lek (Euro 1.4), another threat is posed to the country’s economy this year, which international financial institutions such as IMF say will keep Albania on the brink of recession. As domestic consumption fails to recover, the country’s industries are facing higher production costs and a drop in demand.
Although employing 44 percent of the country’s population, almost double compared to other EU potential and candidate countries and eight times more compared to the EU 27 average, Albania’s agriculture sector manages to produce only 19 percent of the gross value added by main sector. The latest data published in a report by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, show agriculture is the second most important sector for the Albanian economy after services which account for 57 percent of the gross value added and employ 36 percent of the population.
Albania’s agriculture is the least financed by the government and the banking sector. The Albanian government spends only 0.5 percent of the GDP on agriculture while credit to the agricultural sector represents only 1.3 percent of total credit to businesses, according to central bank data.