In the village of Kreshpanj in the Municipality of Maliqi in Albania, the areas planted with broad beans, known as placa beans, have decreased.
If a year ago there were more than 15 hectares planted with this particular type of bean, this year the farmers did not plant more than 2 hectares.
All this has come about because of the lack of market.
“European experts have come to the conclusion that green beans are organic with inorganic/organic substances that compete in the market. We would go out with our certification, with our stamp, on the European market. We don’t have the conditions for a packaging machine to reach the final destination, we were expecting this from Italy”, farmer Fatmir Ferhatllari declared for Vizion Plus.
Klevis Ferhatllari is another resident of this village.
He deals with the cultivation of broad beans, but also of another variety called trenare, beans that have remained unsold.
He shows that he has 10 tons of unsold beans.
“Because of the fear of the market, the closing of the customs, they bring in from outside to close these. There are over 10-11 tons left unsold. From this, farmers in our area plant more”, Klevis Ferhatllari.
Finding a market for local produce is becoming more and more difficult for Southeast farmers.