Snapshots of Albanian Women in Agriculture
In December 2008, the GATE Project produced a study highlighting women agriculture producers, an underexplored group of farmers in Albania. Their stories show that, while there is no clear, linear path to success for women, given sufficient support and experience, women can excel in agriculture in Albania.
Factors for Success
Each woman’s entrepreneurial story is different. Yet, four factors influenced each one’s success: access to land; strong, supportive family relationships; agriculture experience during the communist period; and, legitimacy to execute farm-related decisions. The following snapshots of women farmers illustrate these factors for success.
Access to Land
The 1991 Albanian land reform distributed land to households and not individuals. The title to family agriculture land is in the name of the head of the household, which is most often a man. Study participants were confused by the attention given to the title of land being in their husband’s names. The women perceived that the land belonged as much to them as to their husbands. As members of families, the women had access to and decision-making power over the use of the land.
 Merusha Malasi – Syzes
Olive Producer
Woman Managed Enterprise
Shortly after the communist regime collapsed, Merusha Malasi and her husband established their own private commercial farm. The area of Syzes is known for olive cultivation. Through the 1991 land reform, the households in Syzes acquired 2,400 square meters of land and 12 olive trees per person. The family’s five hectares of land is divided into three parcels, two of which are dedicated to olives.
When Merusha’s daughter married, she followed the local tradition of donating her land to her natal family. Through this donation, Merusha became a joint-owner of land. The title to the land that her daughter “donated” is in both Merusha and her husband’s name.
Merusha and her husband benefited from the government’s efforts to invest in the production of tree fruits. By increasing the surface area of olive trees, they received 150,000 leke from the government.
A tragic accident in 2004 left Merusha Malasi’s husband severely handicapped and Merusha the sole manager of the family’s commercial olive farm and her husband’s primary caretaker. Merusha has taken out several loans. When she applied for a loan from the Agriculture Bank, her husband and three children had to sign as co-applicants. Since the land is regarded as the family’s property, the bank required all five of their signatures before processing the loan.
Supportive Family Relationships
Even though men are often socially recognized as the head of the household, women and men expressed the importance of cooperation and strong family relationships to the success of the business.
 Garufo Gata, Lavidhia, Sarande
Melon Producer
Woman Managed Enterprise
Garufo Gato and her husband stand as proud partners in front of one of four owned and leased agriculture plots in Lavidhia, an area of Albania bordering Greece.
Garufo, one of a Greek minority in Albania, and her husband saved the investment capital for their farming enterprise while working in Greece years ago. Their partnership is one element of the successful business: “I never say that’s your task and this is my task. We both have our strengths and weaknesses.”
While Garufo recognizes that there are still some families in the region that follow a strict division of labor, with women providing the majority of farm labor and men finding markets and selling the product, she attributes her family farm’s success to the strong relationship between her and her husband, “One person can’t do it alone.”
Further, Garufo perceives the delineation of specific tasks according to gender as an impediment to a businesses’ progress. She is the more talented negotiator of the two, and thus does the majority of the marketing and selling of their products.
Experience
Women’s previous experience in the agriculture sector is central to their current success. The sample included former brigadiers, agriculture specialists, as well as women who were producing the same types of crops that they produced during the communist system. Through their experience in cooperatives and state farms, women gained not only knowledge but also social networks. Through their social networks, women have gained access to land, reliable, trained workers, and price information.
 Bardha Bega, Seman, Fier
Greenhouse Owner
Woman Owned and Managed Enterprise
In 1970, Bardha Bega, a university-educated agriculture specialist, went to work as an agronomist at the very first Albanian greenhouse.
Following the dismantling of Albania’s state farms, Bardha chose to retain part of the greenhouse, but she ended up only with the land. She chose to rebuild: “Agriculture is my passion and profession. This is what I know how to do best.”
Throughout the communist period, both men and women were highly involved in the management of greenhouses in Fier. Women occupied over 50 percent of the brigadier, or management, positions in the vegetable sector, while men held the majority of management positions within transportation, tobacco, corn, and mechanical agriculture sectors.
Bardha owns and runs the greenhouse while her husband owns a notary office in Fier. Up until 2007, she made all purchases for the farm, negotiated with wholesalers, and sold her products.
Bardha has since employed a full-time woman manager for the business. She has eight full-time workers, and during harvest time she hires up to 15 men and women seasonal workers. Several of the former state employees now work for her.
Legitimacy
Decision-making power within the farm enterprise is not exercised based on a hierarchy of roles; rather, it rests on legitimacy. Society may afford Albanian men structural positions of authority; yet, within the family farm enterprise, it is individuals with the knowledge and experience in agriculture that have power. Women’s expertise in agriculture and involvement in production provides them with legitimacy to execute farm-related decisions.
The division of labor is not linked to decision-making over particular tasks. Men may perform the act of purchasing farm equipment or selling the crops, but that does not afford them greater legitimacy to decide what to purchase or when or where to sell. In joint-managed farms, for example, men make purchases only after the couple has reached a decision.
 Aneta Buzuqi, Xare, Saranda
Melon Producer
Joint-Managed Enterprise
Aneta Buzuqi and her husband, along with her husband’s two brothers and their wives, operate a 24,000 square meter farm producing watermelon in the far southern part of Albania.
Aneta says the labor she and her sisters-in-law provide in grafting seeds and planting saplings make them an integral part of the farm: “The men can’t make decisions without us.” All decisions about the watermelon farm are made as a group, with the three brothers and three wives all contributing to the decision-making process.
While the men in the production group are responsible for taking the watermelon to market and negotiating with the wholesalers, Aneta advises her husband when and at what price to sell their products. She explained that “After he talks to the wholesalers and finds out the price, he calls me. I know our production costs and at what price we can afford to sell. Sometimes, I tell him to hold off and wait for better prices.”
The enterprise’s organizational structure is common throughout Xare among watermelon farmers. Men and women have clearly defined production tasks, but both contribute to the management and decisions of the farm.
Full Document
Albanian Women in Agriculture: Case Studies
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