Value chain coordination and standards: the case of greenhouse vegetables in Albania

Remzi Keco and Irena Gjika

Abstract: Greenhouse vegetables have been one of the fastest growing and best performing Albanian agrifood subsectors. This paper analyses the current state of coordination and recent developments in the greenhouse vegetable value chain, based on a structured farm survey. The results show that vertical cooperation is not sustainable and most greenhouse vegetable farmers do not use written contracts. Furthermore, most farmers do not carry out soil or water analysis. Albanian farmers do not trust the quality of inputs while claiming that (input) prices are unfair and unreasonable. This is, to a large extent, a result of “spot market” coordination, which cannot guarantee traceability and standards compliance; therefore Contract Farming is the adequate tool to address these gaps.

Keywords: descriptive analysis; greenhouse vegetables; standards; value chain governance

Date published: 2021-06-04