From the beginning, when the 2024 budget came into force, the funds for agriculture have been shrinking systematically.

In the last normative act, the total financing of the Ministry of Agriculture reached Lek 13.4 billion from Lek 14.1 billion which was at the beginning of the year with a 5 percent reduction.

The Ministry of Agriculture has Euro 7 million less funds than at the beginning of the year. 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 Lek 385 million or 14%. 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 clementines 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, Monitor reported.

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

Support for farmers was also reduced. In the initial budget of the program "Rural Development supporting agricultural production, livestock, agro-industry, and the market", Lek 7.2 billion was allocated, but with the latest changes, the funding in this item went to Lek 7 billion 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 an average of 0.19% of gross domestic product (GDP) in the agricultural sector during the years 2020-2021. According to a World Bank comparison, this is the lowest level in the Region and 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 Western Balkans is used for direct payments.

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

Only in Albania, more than 60% of the agricultural budget goes to operational expenses of the bureaucratic apparatus and a small part to direct support to farmers.