Agriculture is one of the most important sectors of the Albanian economy, contributing around 19% of the GDP and generating over 50% of employment in the country. Enhancing agricultural production for meeting the internal market and export needs is one of the main objectives of the Albanian agricultural sector. Due to the uneven spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall and climate change, irrigation has been vitally important for the sustainable growth of agricultural production in the country.
Based on surveys conducted for the National Strategy for Irrigation and Drainage 2019-2031, it has been estimated that out of 626 agriculture reservoirs in the country, 65% have significant technical damage that needs urgent attention both to ensure the dam safety and availability of water for irrigation, 27% of the dams have damages to their main body, 29% have non-functional outlets, 30% have damaged outlets, and 14% have serious geotechnical issues.
A combination of interventions including the restoration of existing capacities, the introduction of new technologies to enhance the efficiency of irrigation water use, and improvements in the agricultural value chain needs to be pursued to sustainably enhance the overall competitiveness of the sector and spur rural economic development.
In these circumstances, WBIF has provided a technical assistance grant for a Pre-Feasibility Study to investigate 431 agricultural reservoirs against dam safety and operational issues, reservoir sedimentation rates, agriculture needs, flood holding capacities, and opportunities to use these reservoirs for other purposes. The study will identify the list of functional dams in Albania.
The overall aim is to increase the safety and water availability of dams to irrigate an area of 180,000 ha of agricultural land mostly located in the western coastal part of Albania from Shkodra to Vlora, thus enabling 200,000 farms to increase yields and farm income.
