Funds for agriculture are cut by 5%

2024-12-27 07:41:00, Ekonomi CNA

Since the beginning of the year, when the 2024 budget came into force, the funds for agriculture have been systematically cut. In the last normative act, the total funding for the Ministry of Agriculture reaches 13.4 billion ALL from 14.1 billion ALL that was at the beginning of the year with a 5 percent reduction.

Compared to the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Agriculture has 7 million euros less funds. The cuts are happening at a time when the sector has been in a downward trend for three years and Albanian farmers have the lowest support in Europe and the Region with public funds.

According to data from the Ministry of Finance, food security has the biggest reduction in funding by 14%. The budget for this important function was cut by 385 million ALL or 14 percent. Food security is one of the most important areas where Albania has to make money for EU membership. Just a few days ago, several trucks with tangerines were blocked by EU countries after they were found to contain banned pesticides. The lack of control over the markets is a chronic problem, which, among other things, has become a danger to people's lives and the increase of diseases.

Also, funding for fishing support was almost halved. With the recent changes, the budget for this program is only 248 million ALL from the 472 million ALL that was in the initial budget.

Support for farmers is also cut. In the initial budget in the program "Rural Development supporting agricultural production, livestock, agro-industry and the market" 7.2 billion ALL were allocated, but with the latest changes, the funding in this item went to 7 billion ALL with a 3 percent reduction. This item also represents subsidies for farmers.

At a time when the government has reduced funding for agriculture, the countryside has been emptied by emigration and internal movements.

Albania financed the agricultural sector by an average of 0.19% of GDP during the years 2020-2021. According to a World Bank comparison, this is the lowest level in the Region and in the EU.

Only Albania stands out as a country in the Region with a low level of agricultural support for agriculture, which at the same time is the sector with the largest weight in GDP with about 19% of it.

Most of the public spending on agriculture in the Balkans is used for direct payments.

In countries such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia, the weight of direct payments to farms reaches 70-80% of agricultural budgets, most of which is related to livestock production or the use of inputs.

In Albania alone, more than 60% of the agricultural budget goes to operational expenses of the bureaucratic apparatus and only a small part to direct support to farmers./ Monitor Magazine