The degree of digitalization and willingness to using digital technologies by the Albanian farmers: An exploratory and econometrics analysis

Ilir Tomorri; Remzi Keco; Myslym Osmani; Arben Kambo; Shpresim Domi

Ilir Tomorri

, Remzi Keco

, Myslym Osmani

, Arben Kambo

, Shpresim Domi

Abstract: Agriculture is an important economic sector in Albania, both in terms of its contribution to GDP, and employment. In this sector operate more than 300 thousand farms, most of which are micro and small farms up to 2 ha. Digitalization is thought of as an important means to help agriculture face multiple challenges, such as increasing productivity and efficiency of resource use, competitiveness, food quality and safety, climate change, quality of living in rural areas, ageing, depopulation and biodiversity, all contributing to or being in close relationship with the sustainable development of the agriculture sector and the national economy as a whole. The purpose of this paper is to provide an averall degree of digitalization in the agricultural sector mainly at farm level, and of the willingness of farmers to use digital technologies in their farms. The identification of factors influencing both the actual use of digital technologies and the farmers’ willingness of using them in the future is the other facet of the research purpose. To carry out the research we used collected information from 5 regions of the country (Korçë, Kukës, Berat, Fier, Gjirokastër), using face to face interviews for 938 farmers from these areas. To analyse data we applied exploratory statistical tools and econometric regression. Analysis showed that among factors supposed to influence the degree of actual digitalization the most important resulted farmers’ knowledge and skills about digital technologies, utility of these technologies as percepted by farmers, availability of technologies, farmers’ belief in farming as a benefitial activity, education level and farm size, while age has a negative effect. At the end, some recommendations to improve the level of use and farmer’s willingness to use digital technologies in the future are presented.

Keywords: agriculture; digital technologies; digitalization; exploratory analysis; regression model; smart farming

Citation: Tomorri, I., Keco, R., Osmani, M., Kambo, A. & Domi, Sh. (2026). The degree of digitalization and willingness to using digital technologies by the Albanian farmers: An exploratory and econometrics analysis. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 32(1), 19–36

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Date published: 2026-02-25

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