TIRANA, April 28 /ATA/ Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Frida Krifca, stated on Friday that IPARD II, the European Union program for supporting entities in the chain from farm to agro-processing and the development of rural areas in Albania, is a success story.
Krifca participated in the 1st meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the IPARDIII Program, 2021-2027, which was held in Peza, Tirana, in one of the guesthouses supported by this program.
The meeting brought together senior representatives of the DG-Agri of the European Commission, the EU Delegation in Albania, as well as actors from all sectors of the line and private enterprise.
Krifca described this meeting as a new and important step for cooperation and Albanian agriculture towards increase in productivity, sustainability, income, safety and European standards.
“With the support of the IPARD program, enterprises in Albania are building another reality in the market economy, modernizing the country’s economy and developing the agricultural chain in line with the standards of the EU, which we want to join,” said the minister.
Krifca informed the heads of the program on the progress of the implementation of IPARD II, the successes and difficulties and what it brought to Albanian agriculture, opening up new perspectives.
The minister said that the preparatory work has already completed for IPARD III to be equally successful, focusing on new support measures for young farmers and women so that they do not leave rural areas.
“The success of the IPARD program is based on the titanic effort of Prime Minister Edi Rama, who prioritized this program which has delivered impactful results, tangible investments that return to the state budget much more than the values that we dedicate to this program,” said Krifca.
She said that the approach, orientation of farmers and enterprises that have chosen to deal with a difficult sector such as agriculture, towards formalization, economization and doing business according to EU rules, shows that our farmers are the first that have brought us closer to the EU.
It was precisely this positive basis and the commitment of the government that influenced the decision of the European Commission on March 9, 2022, with an additional grant budget (EU and Albanian Government) worth 146 million euros or about 52 million euros or 55% more than the IPARD Program II support for Albanian agriculture.
The instrument will help to generate more than 79 million euros of private investments, which will produce added value in agriculture, livestock, agri-processing.
This EU support, together with national public and private contributions, will inject a total of over 225 million euros of investments from the 169.9 million euros disbursed under the IPARD II Program) in the rural areas of Albania.
The leitmotif of IPARD II has been the determination to succeed in developing this sector.
“We gained confidence of the European Union, so more sectors will be supported under IPARD III,” the minister said.
“Beyond the measures applied in IPARD II, in this program we support and encourage economic actors to use autochthonous breeds, to revitalize traditional agrosystems, such as traditional olive groves, to increase the certified areas or to sustainably use pastures, fish stocks and aquaculture,” said Krifca.
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