Case Study. The Dramatic Rise of Individual Farming in Albania: Causes and Effects

Abstract

AbstractSince agriculture accounts for a significant portion in Albania's total GDP and because of its large farming population, agrarian reform has played no small part in the economic reforms imposed there. Because of this reform, land and other such assets were distributed to farm workers, which furthered the decollectivization of collective farms and the transition to the adoption of private land ownership. As such, the individual family farm became the fundamental farm organization. The effects on Albania of these reforms are found to be different from the effects experienced by other Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs). This is because land in large-scale farming in the other CEECs still accounts for a sizeable share of the total land and land was mostly restituted to its former owners. Improved resource allocation and labour incentives initiated growth in agricultural output after the reform. This chapter identifies the determinants of agricultural privatization policies and land reform, particularly in the case of Albania.