Unused farm land now to be taxed in Albania

February 20, 2010 | Altin Zeqiri - Albanian Times


The Government of Albania is introducing a tax for fallow land. The message from the government to the farmers is that If the farm land is not used then it can be rented to someone who can make a use of it and if it is not rented then it will be taxed.



The government is pushing for renting the unused farm land in Albania. Some radicals are calling the idea as nonsense and are saying that there will be arguments and fights between the local government and the villagers when their land is taken by force and given to someone else whilst there are many villagers that use the land for feeding the animals and does not financially make sense to work the land if it is situated in a far distance from where they live. Unused farm land is mostly used by villagers to feed the animals such as sheep, cows, goats, horses...etc

The move has been welcomed by some specialists, saying that this will increase Albanian land products and will benefit the country in exports and will decrease imports which will help the money stay in country and strengthen Albanian agriculture. Until now Albanian land has been mostly worked by families but with the move of being able to rent the land, this should open doors for large producers and large companies to make a move and produce their products in Albania where labour is very cheap. Specialists say that this will create jobs and will open factories and co-operatives. At the moment farm land is being worked by families in small amount and this has effected in most of the villagers not having proper jobs apart from working for 6 months a year in their farms. Because of the risk of exports Albanian farmers tend to go for many products rather then one only growing one product as can been seen in the western countries.

Frank a villager from south Albania talking to Albanian Times said: "i have a farm of 10 hectares which i work, i have another 20 hectares but it is too far from the village and i only use that to keep the animals. i cannot afford to go and work on that land because it is too far from the village and i only leave the animals there. Frank works in the land with his wife and their three children. If the government take away that land from me, how am I going to feed my animals he says! i will have no choice but get rid of the animals. He continued, i have the 10 hectares of land here and in a good year working with my whole family i make about 30 000 euro whilst some years i make much less because of the exports and the product i have planted is on the market very cheap".

Is the exports and the climate that keep dropping prices of products, a kilogram to only few cents very early in the season and all our hard work is sold for nothing! North Albania has warmer climate in the summer and all the land products are done earlier then here, they get the notes but by the time my vegetables are in the market the prices have dropped and i only get coins.

It is what they plant the most in the north and me going for what’s planted less in the there i can make money, otherwise like i said i only gather coins. i have 10 hectares of land here in the village and i plant 20 products so this way I do not risk of not finishing the season with empty pockets. If the tomatoes and onions are cheap i still have hopes peppers, melon…etc will do better. i would prefer to only plant one product and that would be less work for me but if that product is drop to cents i will end up eating bread and butter for the rest of the year.

My three children could work somewhere else where they have a normal job for 12 months and they only help me and my wife in the land on weekends but there are no investors here to create jobs so we are in the hope that government will rent the land now and create some jobs. The way we work here in the village is that we make the money in the summer and spend it in the winter when there is nothing to do. Now being able to rent the land we are in hope that some big investor might come in the area and take all the land so we can take rent money and also employed.

We had many interested investors wanting to invest in wine but they were looking for low rent and not wanting to pay until the grapes go in production but I cannot wait for his grapes to grow because my family wants to eat says Arben another villager. We are happy to rent the land to someone who is going to create jobs for the villagers. We want jobs and we have been asking the government and investors to open a factory in the area for sauces, cheese, jams and marmalades… so we can sell the products local rather then driving all the way to the capital or main cities to sell the products

There are mixed feelings about land rentals in Albania. Government says having a tax on the land that is not being worked will force us to rent the land and that land can be worked by someone who wants to work the land but don’t have it and can’t rent it and this will make Albania a competitor in the Balkans and Europe for land products. We have the best climate in Europe being the only country with four seasons that the season change can be cut down to hours not days whilst other countries have two or three seasons and rain, cold and warm cannot be known. Albania is the country that can have fruits and vegetables the first in the market without using green houses but pure from the land. If you plant a tomato at the same time in Albania, Greece, Italy, France, Spain and Portugal… we will be the first to eat that tomato and this is a plus for us and we should use these advantages.

Albania is the only country in Europe where there are no chemicals used and everything absolutely everything is 100% organic and the smell and taste of fruits and vegetables can tell it. If again we compare ourselves to other European countries in regards of smelling a fruit or vegetable, because of no chemicals and having the best climate Albanian fruits and vegetables have that strong organic smell that every tourist speaks about. I was reading an article about an Irish couple, having visited most countries in Europe i was left speechless when I ate Albanian salad, I just could not stop eating “tomatoes, cucumber, peppers and onions salad” they were saying.

Ministry of agriculture has appointed specialists for each area where the rent value will be valuated by them. Rent value may vary based on what can be produced and the length of rent.