USAID's New $10 million Agriculture Program
Program to Improve Competitiveness of Albanian Farmers
OCTOBER 5, 2007 (KORÇË) Today USAID launched the new five-year, $10 million Albanian Agriculture Competitiveness Program in Korca, where one of the program’s regional offices will be located. The program assists farmers in improving the productivity of their operations and their responsiveness to trade conditions and opportunities.
“With this program USAID will assist Albania’s agriculture, in particular farmers, to become more competitive in the global market over the next five years,” said Mr. Douglas Menarchik, Assistant Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, who is visiting several USAID programs in Elbasan, Pogradec, and Korca while in Albania before traveling to Romania and Bulgaria next week.
Ms. Merita Petushi, Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Consumer Protection, Mr. Artur Agolli, Head of Commune, and Mr. Menarchik, officiated at the ceremony held in the private apple orchard of Mr. Rakip Musa, ten minutes outside the city of Korca.
Ms. Petushi thanked USAID for its support to Albania’s agriculture sector which complements Albania’s National Strategy for Agricultural Development that will improve the productivity and competitiveness of producers, traders, and agri-businesses.
In his remarks, Menarchik mentioned ways that farmers in Korca could benefit from USAID assistance, in particular with the adoption of environmentally-friendly methods of fighting pests or new–post-harvest technologies, as well as fostering better market linkages with the domestic and international markets. “USAID recognizes the important contribution of the agricultural sector to the growth of the economy, the improvement of the quality of life, and the reduction of poverty in the rural areas across Albania.”
Albania is still a rural country (57%) and has a tremendous reliance on agriculture and agriculture-related industry. The sector produces almost 23 percent of Albania’s GDP.
To date, AAC is assisting farmers with four high-value commodities: fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, melons and olives.
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