On August 7th, 2020, the Albanian Agribusiness & Tourism Support Facility (AATSF), organized a webinar featuring the topic on “Covid-19 effects on early-stage Watermelon cultivation”.
The Panelists, Ms. Adela Leka, AATSF’s Deputy Team Leader, Mr. Ilir Pilku, AATSF’s Senior Agriculture Expert and Mr. Ermal Baze, Analyst for Advice for Small Business EBRD Program, have provided the audience with a situational overview of most relevant agricultural products of the season in Albania.
During the webinar, the panelists presented key information and case studies on the challenges and potentials of watermelon and melon production during the pandemic and provided an overview of investment opportunities for Albanian farmers and agribusinesses.
A study was developed by AATSF’s experts, aiming to provide an overview of the agricultural products of the season in Albania, mainly of watermelon and melon, analyzing recent developments and the current situation, with special focus on the impact of the pandemic situation Covid-19 throughout the value chain including Financial Institutions, and opportunities to mitigate the risk of losses in these sectors.
The study, was based on the fact that the agribusiness sector faced an unusual situation related to the strict rules affected by the pandemic. Unfortunately, the planned profits for farmers cultivating watermelon at early stage shrank to 16 million euros. Therefore, the study recommends better monitoring by both farmers and state institutions on the planting process and distribution as well as more carefulness in respecting the planting deadlines at early stage.
Simultaneously, EBRD’s Advice for Small Business Program, presented to the participants its offers and opportunities in increasing their business potential. EBRD provides Business advice for small and medium-sized businesses, including business planning, marketing, financial management, HR and quality assurance standards preparatory assistance.
In this webinar participated AATSF’s Partner Financial Institutions (Intesa SanPaolo, ProCredit Bank, Raiffeisen Bank, OTP Bank), interested agribusinesses and representative agriculture state institutions.
To see the full webinar video please visit the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ofMLUAU7AA&feature=youtu.be on our YouTube account.
The AATSF program will organize additional webinars in the future focused on new upcoming studies related to coronavirus impact on sectorial agriculture products in Albania.
The Albanian Agribusiness & Tourism Support Facility – AATSF, is a project funded and developed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in cooperation and with support from the Government of Albania.