Albania’s Agriculture Exports Rise despite COVID-19

TIRANA, August 19

Albanian farmers who contribute to about 18 percent of the country’s Gross National Product (GDP) were able to increase the volume of exported fruit and vegetables during January-June 2020 by 11.6 percent. Even though they were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictive measures during March, agricultural production continued. However, farmers saw their products rot in fields and greenhouses in March when restrictions of mobility and access to markets were applied. Moreover, many were forced to lower the prices of fresh fruit and vegetables to record-lows.
Despite difficulties, Albanian farmers managed not only to handle the crisis on their own, but they helped increased the exports, while most of the other exports plunged by 17.7 percent during January-June 2020. On the other hand, data from the Ministry of Agriculture show that agricultural exports accounted for 68.6 percent of the total amount of commodities exported during the first half of the year, Scan TV reported.

The same data confirm that Albania exported over 112,000 tons of fruit and vegetables during Jan-Jun 2020 with an estimated value of Lek 6.4 billion. The top exported products include tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, watermelons, melons, etc.
Albania is known as a top exporter of high-quality and certified agricultural products especially tomatoes. According to worldstopexports.com global rankings for 2019, Albania ranked 22nd for the export of tomatoes, 20th for the export of cucumbers, 26th for watermelon exports.

 

Read also: Agriculture in Albania

Source: Scan TV

Photo credit: Doni Fruits