A three-year FAO project is providing recovery and reconstruction assistance to smallholder farmers in the Republic of Albania impacted by the 2019 earthquake.  Implemented with the financial support of the governments of the  Kingdom of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the project “Earthquake...

 Food systems stakeholders in Albania, Jordan, and Morocco have gotten a boost from a project funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy and implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to operationalize their food systems transformation pathways. “SFS-MED: a multi-stakeholder...

In the last years, Agroecology Europe started to map agroecological initiatives in different countries or regions of Europe with the aim to support the development of agroecology in Europe, raise awareness for it and thereby strengthen agroecology in Europe. This work, namely the mapping of initiatives, writing of reports and coordination...

The city of Përmet is known as the city of flowers, wine, jams, and a compote called gliko. Local products such as these are important drivers of sustainable development and agrotourism, in how they enhance potential and opportunity for farming families. In this context, an FAO project on effective natural‑resource management has...

Aided by FAO, multiple events took place in recent weeks in Albania to help the country fight climate change and its consequences. In the past decades, the country has been facing floods and droughts and further weather extremes, as well as invasive marine species. To address these issues, FAO, in cooperation...

FAO provides assistance to Albanian farmers through agricultural grants that aim to add value to local agricultural production. The project, financed by the United Nations Joint Fund and the Albanian government, supports smallholders through facilitating good practices on rural income diversification, innovative short food value chains, and farmers' cooperation, as...

FAO helped to enhance diversification and competitiveness of Albanian smallholders through the promotion of agritourism and digitalization in the agrifood sector. The one-year project, which ended recently, targeted three pilot areas in the country (Belsh, Melesi Madhe, and Korca). For real impact, the project combined training and knowledge sharing leading to...

For me, becoming an organic farmer is an investment in myself. I encourage people to love nature, love life, and eat organic.” Meet Luljeta, an organic farmer from Albania 🇦🇱 who makes a living growing olives for food and cosmetics.

As a country with a significant agricultural sector dominated by smallholders, Albania has a strong interest in understanding their situation. A new FAO study on Albanian smallholders is a crucial step towards evidence-based decision-making for the benefit of some 300 000 small farms and the Albanian countryside.

The Vjosa is the second largest river basin (approximately 6 808 km2) in Albania and one of the longest transboundary rivers in the Balkan area. The Vjosa catchment is shared among many cities, such as Erseke, Permet, Gjirokaster, Tepelene, Mallakaster, Fier, and Vlore. Because the waterway has not been subjected...

Small-scale fisheries in the Mediterranean and Black Sea Region represents a key segment of the fishing sector, accounting for the greatest part of the fleet in the region and more than a half of the total workers employed in the sector. Fisher and fishworker households are exposed to different risks and...

With more than 40 percent of the workforce working in agriculture and almost half of the population living in rural areas, Albania’s agriculture is the backbone of the country’s economic development. The sector will play a key role in the integration of Albania into the European Union and in achieving...

The Smallholder Farmers’ Dataportrait of the ESA Small Family Farms Team is a comprehensive, systematic and standardized data set on the profile of smallholder farmers, bringing out the characteristics of family farms across the world. It is designed in such a way that differences between countries and regions can be...

Agriculture remains the most important sector in Albania’s economy and provides the income base for the majority of the population. Among Albania's farmers 74 percent are small family farmers with very limited size of holdings averaging not more than 0.5 hectare, but accounting for the highest share of agricultural production. This...

The objectives of this paper are to understand the evolution of family farming in a mountainous area of Southern Albania after the fall of communism in 1991 and to identify the socio-economic developments that characterize this territory in very last years. According to primary or secondary historical data, there is...

Starting or participating in an agrifood business could make good sense for women in poor rural areas of Albania. A new study commissioned by FAO – and presented at a conference here today – identifies several business ideas and examines value chains and markets with potential for improving women’s incomes....

The report, launched at a press conference at the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Water Administration, gives a comprehensive overview of the difficulties faced by rural women in Albania. The analysis is supported by data, and followed up by a set of recommended actions for improving the situation. For...

Investing in sustainable agrifood value chains in countries surrounding the Mediterranean could be the key to solving a range of socio-economic and environmental problems. At a high-level forum this week in the Albanian capital of Tirana, representatives of Albania and Turkey joined colleagues from Algeria, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Morocco,...

FAO Permanent Representatives of Australia, Chile, Kuwait, Japan, Libya, Russian Federation, USA, and the European Union are on a field visit to of Albania and Serbia this week. By visiting FAO project sites and talking with farmers, national officials, FAO partners, other UN agencies and FAO teams on the ground,...

This short report is produced within the frame of the BiodivBalkans project (2012-2016). This project is dedicated to foster rural development in mountainous regions through the construction of Signs of Quality and Origin (SIQO). One of its main outputs was to shed the light on the pastoral and localized livestock...