The second phase of the project "Diaspora’s Engagement in Agricultural Know-How Transfer to Albania”, funded in the framework of IOM Albania programme, “Engage the Albanian Diaspora to the Social and Economic Development of Albania”, and implemented by the Albanian Diaspora Business Chamber in partnership with Italian Association of Producers (IAP) is focused on practical field trainings of the agricultural production companies.  

The expert of the Italian Association of Producers, Mr. Salvatore Armentano, of Arberesh origin, visited Albania from 18 to 20 June 2021 to share with olive oil cultivation companies the best practices and the latest techniques on the cultivation and production of olive oil. As part of this tour, he visited Subashi Olive Oil company in Tirana and Musaj Olive Oil in Vlora, south of Albania.

“This is the first time that an expert from diaspora visits us. We need their support end further engagement in various areas, such as marketing, technical assistance and promotion of Albanian products abroad,” says the Vesaf Musaj, the owner of Musaj Olive Oil factory.

Mr. Salvatore Armentano is an Italian agronomist and agricultural entrepreneur expert living in Calabria, where the Arberësh community is living. He was graduated in Agricultural Sciences from the University of Bologna. He has been involved in designing and coordinating various projects in the Calabria Region and monitoring of olive farms and olive oil factories. He has worked for more than ten years at IAP, where he provides assistance to farms the areas of ​​Pollino and Piana di Sibari, where is the concentration of Arberësh community and many agricultural enterprises are run by the Arbëresh. Mr. Salvatore is very tied to his Arberesh origin and very much related to his Arberësh community. He is engaged in a lot of well-known Italian-Albanian projects.

“There are around 38 small and medium agricultural production and processing enterprises in rural areas of Kavaja, Durrës and Përmet benefiting from the trainings and shared information of this project,” says Durim Tabaku, the ADBC Director. “The project combines the theoretical and practical training of farmers, field demonstrations, organization of exchange activities and online meetings between representatives of the Diaspora in Italy and Albanian entrepreneurs.”

As part of this activity, it has been launched the electronic platform diasporanamëson.al. where the Albanian farmers can find useful information in agriculture offered by diaspora agriculture experts.

This project is implemented in the framework of the IOM Albania programme, “Engage the Albanian Diaspora to the Social and Economic Development of Albania”, funded from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and implemented in partnership with the Minister of State for Diaspora, the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance and Economy and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) in Tirana.