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"We worked more, but we earned less"/ Small farmers facing immigration and low prices

2024-08-25 20:07:22Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA PëLLUMB SULO
"We worked more, but we earned less"/ Small farmers facing immigration
Ahmet Sulejmani

There are about 350,000 agricultural farms in Albania, where almost 160,000 of them have less than 1 hectare of agricultural land, this indicator being the lowest in the region. Small farmers are facing difficulties due to the lack of labor force, but also the low prices of their products in the market.

70-year-old Ahmet Sulejmani is one of the farmers in Ana te Mali, in Shkodër, known for his agricultural products, but also the passion with which he works on his small farm, which is located near the border with Montenegro.

Ahmeti told the Voice of America that this year he planted all kinds of vegetables on the farm, but in the end he was unhappy because he did not manage to sell all the produce.

"This year we worked harder, but won less. This was a surprise. Even if you work, all the goods go to waste. It is sold, but the dealer abuses in an unprecedented way. They get the melon for free. Today in Shkodër, you don't have melons under 20 Lek per kilogram, while you get them for 3-4 Lek. Is there interest in working the land?", he says.

Ana e Mali is included in the area of ​​Lower Shkodra, one of the areas with tradition in the production of corn, but also of vegetables. It has been hit in recent years by successive floods, which have damaged agricultural production, but also the economy of thousands of residents of this area.

"I am not a representative of Ana i Mali. I am a resident of this area. But, I say with conviction that Ana e Mali is one of the most destroyed areas. There is no water to irrigate the lands, so the lands are dry. An excavator came, opened a channel there and ran away. But who among the villagers or farmers is able to clean the canals?", he says.

Like most of the inhabitants of Ana e Mali, Ahmeti has inherited the land. In Albania, the agricultural sector contributes to one fifth of the country's economy, but has the highest land fragmentation compared to the countries of the region. Across the country, there are more than 350 thousand farms similar to that of farmer Ahmet Sulejmani, of which almost 160 thousand are less than 1 hectare of agricultural land.

Farmer Sulejmani has less than 1 hectare of agricultural land, which he inherited. He says that he can handle this area, but there is no way to expand it. Even the oil subsidy from the state, as much as it is given to us, he says, nothing comes of it and it is not given at the right time.

Although agriculture is one of the priority sectors in Albania's economy, farmer Ahmet Sulejmani says that year by year it is turning into a profession for retirees, as young people are leaving and neither the central nor the local government have any idea how to to change the situation.

"Neither the local nor the central government has any idea about the people of the land. I am 70 years old. At this age, even close to this age, they work in agriculture today. You don't have even one percent of youth. And the state has no idea how to favor us, to give us some vitality. "I have a pension of 10,000 Lek and tomorrow I have to pay 50,000 Lek in taxes to the municipality," he says.

Life in the village of Ana e Mali is similar to that of dozens of villages in Shkodra, where some of the residents leave for emigration or for the city. The abandonment of the village is the biggest pain for a farmer like Ahmet Sulejmanin, who has devoted his life to the land and the village./VOA


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