TIRANA – Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama on Sunday urged farmers across country to join their farms into bigger cooperatives in order to increase their yields and incomes, saying the Albanian government and the European Union have already allocated a funding of around EUR 100 million to support the country’s agricultural and agro-processing sector.
During a visit to the area of Kutalli in the south-western region of Berat, the Head of the Government called on local farmers to join their forces behind bigger enterprises in order to benefit more funding for their farms and households.
“The government will ensure support for agricultural sector through its budget money and the EU funding, totally amounting to around EUR 100 million,” Rama said.
The Albanian government and the European Union through its IPARD Programme, the EU’s rural development component of the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance, will co-finance the largest funding programme to support Albania’s agricultural and rural development in 2018.
Under this programme, which is expected to provide direct support to farmers and the country’s whole rural sector, the Albanian government will provide more than 23 million eurose and the EU will provide 71 milion.