One year ahead of the 2021 elections, the Albanian government will increase funds to subsidize farmers by €3.2 million. This will add to the current budget of €6 million, bringing the total 2020 subsidies for farmers up to €9.2 million.
Farmers will be able to apply online to benefit from government funds.
Prime Minister Edi Rama announced the planned increase on Wednesday, adding that 95 percent of those who have applied so far will benefit from it.
Rama also promised that 400 veterinarians will be employed at the National Veterinary Service, and that cattle vaccine against brucellosis will be given free of charge.
In 2018, Albania had about 163 thousand active businesses in agriculture.
Opposition’s Democratic Party (PD) leader Lulzim Basha has also been on a farms tour throughout the country in the past weeks. He has stressed that his party program prioritizes agriculture.
Basha has visited farmers in Lezha, Lushnja, Devoll, Pogradec, Berat, Rrogozhina, Divjaka, Zall-Bastar, Ndroq etc., to get acquainted with their problems.
One month ago, he promised them from Devoll that his government will provide €100 million annually in subsidies for agriculture, more than times the funds promised by the current government for 2020.
Basha promised to invest an additional €50 million in infrastructure to improve irrigation, drainage, processing of goods and markets.
The opposition’s Socialist Movement for Integration (LSI) has supported PD’s program. Former minister of agriculture Edmond Panariti stated that “the united opposition and the LSI are convinced that without the support of at least €100 million, the sector cannot become competitive and will continue to shrink.”
