Albania’s agricultural economy: Transformation, opportunities and challenges for modern agricultural enterprises

The European agricultural market is currently in a state of uncertainty – climate change, military operations on arable land and the partial blocking of traditional grain export routes have changed the usual food security balances and brought the world closer to the risks of global hunger. The study aimed to provide recommendations for the development of the Albanian agricultural sector, considering the current situation and the historical background of the country’s agriculture. Using such methods as statistical analysis, induction, classification, comparison and synthesis, the dynamics of development of both the Albanian economy as a whole and the specifics of its agricultural sector in the period from 1992 to 2022 were investigated. Modelling and generalisation methods were also used. The study obtained and analysed statistical information from previous years on such a basic economic indicator as gross domestic product and studied the dynamics of agricultural field crop production and the structure of their crops. Separately, the volume of Albania’s foreign trade in the agro-industrial complex was analysed in terms of imports of agricultural products, exports, and the balance of these two indicators. The elasticity of private farms was assessed and steps to reform the national assortment policy were proposed. These recommendations were developed considering the Albanian specifics of the relatively small average land area of rural households. In addition, the result of the work is the development of proposals for joint farming and the creation of a national unique trade advantage in the agricultural sector, which will have an economic effect in foreign markets. The practical significance of the study lies in an objective assessment of the current economic situation in the Albanian agroeconomy and the development of several recommendations that may be useful to representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Albania.