Farmers' financing 3 times lower, Denaj: The Agriculture Budget is insufficient, municipalities should also help

The fund made available in support schemes for farmers is considered insufficient for the development of this sector. In the Committee for Economy and Finance, while discussing the 2024 budget for Agriculture, Minister Anila Denaj announced that the financing of farmers for 2024 will not be as much as their needs, but three times lower, which ranks Albania last for region.

"The support scheme for farmers is not complete, it is more reduced than what we need. We asked for 5.2 billion ALL and we received 3.3 billion ALL, but we were given a space to bring a new scheme. The new scheme will support the union of farmers in the future."

"The annual budgets are small compared to the region, we are the last with direct support."

"The new strategy will be 5 years old and requires three times the current budget".

For the development of this sector, the minister emphasized the importance of IPARD III funds. But according to her, municipalities should also play an important role in this regard.

"With the funds, I reiterate, those that support the municipalities should be higher, but the municipalities should also place a higher focus on rural development. If the local government takes the commitment as in tourism, I will understand that it is a successful scheme to achieve their income. "Rural business has not always found the support of municipalities," said Denaj.

From 15.6 billion ALL this year, the funds for the sector with which half of the population works and lives are estimated at less than 14.2 billion ALL or about 134 million euros. According to Minister Denaj, the additional needs that will be presented further in the mid-term budget amount to 9 billion ALL.  (A2 Televizion)