“Farm to Fork Academy: V4 for Sustainable Agriculture in Albania” is a 6-month project, funded by the Visegrad funds, which starts its implementation in 1st of February 2021. The project is being implemented by 5 NGOs, with 3 national rural networks (Albanian Network for Rural Development; Rural Parliament in Slovakia; Hungarian National Rural Network; ) and 2 very experiences associations (Local Action Group „Vistula – Terra Culmensis”; Czech-Moravian Association of Agricultural Entrepreneurs). Albanian Network for Rural Development is leading the implementation of the action.
The project addresses the issues of environment and sustainable development, along with New Green Deal postulates transferred to rural areas of Albania. Losses in biodiversity, climate changes, weather extremities affecting Albanian horticulture (including fruit, berries, vegetable production), and abandonment of lands and its fragmentation negatively affect Albania and the sustainability of its agricultural sector, especially in micro and small farming.
- The project aims to support biodiversity, protect, and promote circular economy models among Albanian small farmers.
- The project aims to create a group of local leaders that will help small farmers to adapt their farming techniques to preserve biodiversity on farms, and to raising awareness of climate change vulnerabilities and technical/agricultural/bio-engineering adaptation solutions in a sustainable, self-efficient, and cost-effectively way.
- The project aims to promote the use of smart on-farms technologies and adjustments resulting in biodiversity protection, sustainable rural development, and facing climate change challenges (ex. restoration and preservation of old varieties of crops and their diversity; sustainable land management, management of old orchards and trees and restoration of fruit bushes, sowing the fields with post-harvest plants that provide the soil with phosphorus and potassium which affects biodiversity, reduce the number of pesticides; solutions that allow entering the market; water harvesting; soil and erosion management; introducing innovative horticulture practices).
Through this project, farmers will gain knowledge and also witness in-practice measures pertaining to the enhancement of sustainability of Albanian agriculture on small farms, environment preservation, and prevention of further losses in biodiversity, by implementing accurate pilots and its practical development; through the Farm to Fork Academy trainings, tutor-led solution project development and the execution of 3 pilot investment awards. Further, the project will trickle down the knowledge via demonstration workshops for a wider group of project beneficiaries.
Support statement: The project is co-financed by the Governments of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia through Visegrad Grants from International Visegrad Fund. The mission of the fund is to advance ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe.